HOW  TO  STUDY 
THE  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

By 

Blanche  Colton  MHia  ms,Pli.D. 


HOW  TO  STUDY 
"THE  BEST  SHORT  STORIES' 


How  to  Study 
"The  Best  Short  Stories" 

AN  ANALYSIS  OF  EDWARD  J.  O'BRIEN'S  ANNUAL  VOL- 
UMES OF  THE  BEST  SHORT  STORIES  OF  THE  YEAR 
PREPARED  FOR  THE  USE  OF  WRITERS  AND  OTHER 
STUDENTS  OF  THE  SHORTS-STORY 


BY 

BLANCHE  COLTON  WILLIAMS 

Associate  Professor  of  English,  Hunter  College  of  the  City 
of  New  York;  Instructor  in  Short-Story  Writing, 
Columbia  University  (Extension  Teaching  and 
Summer  Session).     Author   of    "Gnomic 
Poetry  in  Anglo-Saxon,"  "A  Hand- 
book on   Story    Writing,"  etc.; 
Editor   of   "A   Book   of 
Short   Stories." 


BOSTON 

SMALL,  MAYNARD  &  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


^72  I 


Copyright,  1919 
BY  SMALL,  MAYNARD  &  COMPANY 

(INCORPORATED) 


iNQLISH  i 


PREFACE 

In  this  foreword,  I  wish  first  of  all  to  thank  Captain 
Achmed  Abdullah,  Gertrude  Atherton,  Edwina  Stanton 
Babcock,  Barry  Benefield,  Thomas  Beer,  Katharine  Hol- 
land Brown,  Maxwell  Struthers  Burjt,  Francis  Buzzell, 
Bonn  Byrne  of  Oriel,  Charles  Caldwell  Dobie,  Theo- 
dore Dreiser,  George  Gilbert,  Susan  Glaspell,  Armistead 
C.  Gordon,  Fannie  Hurst,  Arthur  Johnson,  Fanny  Kem- 
ble  Johnson,  Burton  Kline,  Mary  Lerner,  Sinclair  Lewis, 
Jeannette  Marks,  Walter  J.  Muilenburg,  Seumas  O'Brien, 
Vincent  O'Sullivan,  Albert  DuVerney  Pentz,  Lawrence 
Perry,  Mary  Brecht  Pulver,  Harrison  Rhodes,  Benjamin 
Rosenblatt,  Fleta  Campbell  Springer,  and  Julian  Street. 
Each  of  these  authors  very  kindly  gave  data  which  no 
one  could  have  gleaned ;  and  in  so  doing  they  have  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  usefulness  of  this  study.1 

Only  the  other  day  a  student  demanded,  "  Why  can't 
I  get  an  author  to  tell  me  every  step  in  the  develop- 
ment of  one  of  his  stories?"  Although,  as  I  tried  to 
point  out,  such  a  thorough  proceeding  is  neither  desir- 
able nor  easily  possible,2  yet  the  essentially  valuable  part 
of  the  author's  progress  may  be  most  illuminative,  and 
it  is  obtainable.  As  one  of  these  writers  has  said,  the 
artist  is  not  analytical  beforehand  and  is  not  so,  of  neces- 
sity, after  completing  his  work.  But  even  from  those 
who  progress  only,  as  they  assert,  by  inspiration  come 
clear  and  helpful  statements  concerning  their  starting 

1 1  must  add  to  this  list  a  former  student,  Pearl  Doles  Bell, 
who  interviewed  Mrs.  Irvin  Cobb  and  who  read  her  notes  to 
my  summer  class  of  1916.  (The  interview  was  published,  sub- 
sequently, in  The  [New  York]  Sun,  October  i,  1916.)  My  as- 
sistant, Miss  Shirley  V.  Long,  collaborated  in  the  analysis  of 
Miss  Hurst's  "Get  Ready  the  Wreaths." 

2  Poe  seems  to  be  the  sole  writer  who  has  asserted  that  he 
could  call  to  mind  the  progressive  steps  of  any  of  his  com- 
positions. 


445204 


vi  PREFACE 

points  and  developing  processes.  This  generosity  of 
successful  writers  augurs  well  for  the  future  of  fiction. 

Charles  Caldwell  Dobie  has  said : x  "  Any  man  who  has 
made  a  success  of  his  business  or  profession  always 
seems  to  consider  it  his  duty  to  warn  others  off  the  field. 
The  advice  of  both  failure  and  success  appears  to  be  em- 
bodied in  one  and  the  same  word,  '  Don't ! '  This  is  a 
curious  paradox,  and  I  shall  not  attempt  to  explain  it. 
Perhaps  it  is  because  the  roads  to  success  or  to  failure 
are  hard  to  distinguish,  the  sign-posts  at  the  parting  of 
the  ways  almost  undecipherable.  Yes,  I  think  it  must 
be  this  realization  of  the  nearness  of  defeat  that  makes 
the  successful  one  so  anxious  to  dissuade  others  from 
the  struggle.  And  yet,  after  all,  there  is  a  bit  of  egotism 
back  of  the  kindly  advice  we  offer,  rather  patronizingly, 
to  our  friends. 

"  I  would  be  the  last  person  to  warn  the  ambitious 
from  literary  endeavor,  providing  they  would  rather 
write  than  do  anything  else  in  the  world ;  providing,  also, 
they  were  equipped  with  three  qualifications.  Deter- 
mination is  the  first;  a  hide  at  once  sensitive  and  im- 
pervious ranks  second;  an  hour  —  at  least  —  a  day  to 
devote  to  the  pursuit  of  their  purpose.  I  say  devote 
advisedly;  the  true  lover  is  never  niggardly.  ...  If 
added  to  these  virtues,  one  has  a  quiet  room  and  no 
telephone,  half  the  battle  is  won."  2 

And,  further,  by  way  of  emphasis  on  work  and  study, 
hear  Burton  Kline :  "  As  an  editor  I  have  a  feeling  that 
some  of  the  writers  who  should  be  railroad  presidents 
or  bank  directors  are  getting  in  the  way  of  real  writers 
that  I  ought  to  be  discovering.  In  the  long  run  it  is 
probably  better  to  have  all  the  writing  we  can  get.  The 
wider  the  net  is  spread,  the  greater  the  chance  of  some- 
thing precious  in  the  haul.  The  teaching  of  writing, 
even  if  it  finds  only  a  few  real  writers,  helps  to  sharpen 

1  The  Silhouette,  February,  1917. 

2  Ellen  Glasgow  writes  behind  locked  doors ;  Gertrude  Ather- 
ton   "  rings    down   an   iron   curtain "   between   herself   and   the 
world. 


PREFACE  vii 

the  critical  taste  of  the  others  and  whet  their  appetite 
for  better  writing.  And  I  believe  that  sharper  appetite 
and  more  discriminating  taste  is  beginning  to  be  felt. 
...  In  the  creation  of  a  literature,  an  audience  is  as 
necessary  as  the  performers  themselves.  And  the  more 
critical  the  audience,  the  more  likely  we  are  to  have 
great  performers.  The  opportunity  invites  and  develops 
them.  .  .  ." 

Speaking  from  the  critic's  and  teacher's  point  of  view, 
I  not  only  believe  that  one  can  "  learn  to  write  " ;  I  know, 
because  more  than  once  I  have  watched  growth  and 
tended  effort  from  failure  to  success.  Many  would-be 
writers  drop  by  the  way;  the  telephone  to  pleasure  is 
too  insistent,  or  the  creative  process  is  not  sufficiently 
joyful.  Some  students,  however,  need  only  an  encourag- 
ing word  and  sympathetic  criticism.  Harriet  Welles  is 
an  example  of  this  sort.  Her  stories  have  been  running 
in  Scribner's  for  some  months;  she  worked  only  a 
year  in  my  class  at  Columbia  before  producing  finished 
narratives.  Others  must  labor  and  exercise  patience  in 
order  to  accomplish  a  few  —  perhaps  one  or  two  — 
worthy  specimens  of  the  story-teller's  art.  I  refer,  for 
illustration,  to  another  student,  Elizabeth  Stead  Taber, 
whose  "  Scar "  attracted  favorable  comment  and  drew 
from  Mr.  O'Brien  high  praise  in  his  volume  of  1917. 
Others  write  prolifically,  turning  out  story  after  story, 
before  attaining  the  highest  publications  and  prices  — 
but  not  of  necessity  before  attaining  excellent  construc- 
tion and  style.  Marjorie  Lewis  Prentiss  comes  to  mind 
as  an  earnest  and  careful  writer  of  this  sort,  who  is  im- 
proving as  steadily  as  she  writes  and  publishes  regularly. 
I  need  not  refer  to  Frederick  S.  Greene  —  now  in  France 
—  who  has  become  well  known  through  his  stories,  and 
who  felt  that  he  worked  best  under  class  criticism.  He 
studied  as  he  wrote,  and  his  published  stories,  with  only 
two  exceptions  as  I  recall,  were  produced,  first,  for  the 
class-room  audience.  Even  those  who  succeed  only 
once,  or  who  never  succeed,  have  learned  to  evaluate 
the  content  and  the  manner  of  the  printed  narrative,  and 


viii  PREFACE 

have  added  to  the  body  of  the  intelligent  fiction-public. 

The  great  artist,  let  me  add,  hews  his  own  way. 
But  — !  Gutzon  Borglum  once  said  that  in  his  opinion 
there  had  lived  only  three  great  masters  of  art:  Phidias, 
Michel  Angelo,  and  Auguste  Rodin.  If  these  are  the 
great  names  in  sculpture  and  pictorial  art,  who  are  those 
in  the  world  of  fiction  writing? 

...  I  use  the  form  "  short-story "  to  indicate  the 
particular  genre  or  type,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  story 
that  is  merely  short.  I  have  laid  down  my  definition  in 
"  A  Handbook  on  Story  Writing,"  x  a  volume  which  the 
student  of  this  book  should  have  at  hand.  In  the  space 
here  allowed,  there  can  be  no  discussion  of  terminology. 
Mr.  O'Brien  has  expressed  himself  as  uninterested  in 
technical  distinctions,  a  fact  which  argues  for  the  greater 
range  of  his  choice.  He  has  preferred  the  larger  values, 
and  therefore  no  adverse  comment  is  implied  in  my  class- 
ing a  story  in  these  collections  as  a  novelette  or  another 
as  a  story  that  is  merely  short.2  From  the  standpoint 
of  literature,  an  advantage  lies  in  the  more  extended 
field.  And  at  best,  opinions  differ.  I  can  only  set  down 
my  own  reactions,  backed  by  eight  years  of  teaching  and 
a  life-time  interest  in  fiction. 

To  the  student,  I  would  emphasize  the  fact  that  study- 
ing these  "  Yearbook  "  stories,  valuable  as  such  study 
may  become,  will  not  make  of  you  a  writer;  but  from 
them,  this  little  book,  and  the  wealth  of  detail  which 
Mr.  O'Brien  has  accumulated,  you  can  apprehend  the  ele- 
ments of  technique  and  learn,  at  the  same  time,  what 
is  successful  from  an  editorial  point  of  view.  For  every 
short-story  writer  must  be  both  an  artist  and  a  man  of 
business.  If  his  work  is  not  published,  it  is  not.  Much 
of  it,  early  in  the  exercising  stages,  should  die.  But 
at  the  last  there  must  be  evidence  of  labor  and  of  genius. 
Only  one  evidence  is  admissible:  the  product. 

*Dodd  Mead  &  Company,  1917.    Third  Edition,  1918. 

2  In  quoting,  I  have  used  "  short  story  "  or  "  short-story "  as 
written  by  the  various  authors.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  forms 
are  usually  interchangeable. 


PREFACE  ix 

While  you  are  learning,  then,  do  not  try  to  publish. 
"  Do "  your  exercises,  and  practise  much ;  master  the 
principles,  and  express  yourself.  When  you  have  be- 
come full-grown,  put  away  childish  things,  and  forget 
that  you  ever  heard  of  technique. 

BLANCHE  COLTON  WILLIAMS. 
New  York  City, 
November  30,  1918. 


CONTENTS 


STORIES  IN  THE  YEARBOOKS 
1915,  1916,  1917,  and  1918. 

PAGE 

A  SIMPLE  ACT  OF  PIETY.     By  Captain  Achmed 

Abdullah        ..........   1918         I 

THE  SACRIFICIAL  ALTAR.     By  Gertrude  Atherton  1916        8 


THE  EXCURSION.  1  ~,    ,-,  .    .       ^            -r,  ,       «  f.   IQI7  12 

CRUELTY.            f*?  Edwma  Stant°n  Babcockt   £&  I4 

ONNIE.     By  Thomas  Beer      .......   1917  18 

Miss  WILLETT.     By  Barry  Benefield     ....   1916  21 

SUPERS.     By  Frederick  Booth     ......    1916  23 

BUSTER.     By  Katharine  Holland  Brown     .      .      .   1918  24 

FOG.     By  Dana  Burnet     ........   1916  28 

THE  WATER-HOLE.  "I,,    ,,          n  <^    .0.        r>     *  f    I9I5  31 

A  CUP  OF  TEA.       ^  Maxwdl  Struthers  Burt{  1917  33 


MA'S  PRETTIES,  \-n-r.        •    r>        it  /•••• 
LONELY  PLACES.  JBy  Franc.s  Buzzell  |_     ;     _ 

THE  WAKE.     By  Donn  Byrne     ......   1915  42 

THE  GREAT  AUK.      1  „     T     .     ^  ,  ,    f  .      .      .     .   1916  44 

BOYS  WILL  BKBoYs.|ByIrvmCobb{-     •     •     •  W7  4» 

CHAUTONVILLE.     By  Will  Levington  Comfort       .   1915  51 

TH™'  WINDow.}^  ^  Cald-"  D°bK  ^87  g 

THE  LOST  PHOEBE.     By  Theodore  Dreiser      .      .   1916  59 

LA  DERNIERE  MOBILISATION.     By  W.  A.  Dwiggins  1915  61 

THE  EMPEROR  OF  ELAM.     By  H.  G.  Dwight    .     .   1917  62 

THE  CITIZEN.     By  James  Francis  Dwyer  .     .     .   1915  66 

THE  GAY  OLD  DOG.     By  Edna  Ferber  ....   1917  67 

BLIND  VISION.     By  Mary  Mitchell  Freedley  .     .   1918  71 

IMAGINATION.    By  Gordon  Hall  Gerould   .     .     .   1918  73 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

THE   KNIGHT'S   MOVE.    By  Katherine  Fullerton 

Gerould 1917  75 

IN  MAULMAIN  FEVER- WARD.     By  George  Gilbert  1918  77 

A  JURY  OF  HER  PEERS.     By  Susan  Glaspell     .     .1917  83 

THE  SILENT  INFARE.     By  Armistead  C.  Gordon  .   1916  86 

THE  CAT  OF  THE  CANE-BRAKE.^  By  Frederick  Stu-*l  1916  89 

THE  BUNKER  MOUSE.                J      art  Greene         J 1917  92 

WHOSE  DOG—?     By  Frances  Gregg     .     .      .     -1915  95 

'  $ 

LIFE.     By  Ben  Hecht 1915  100 

THE  FATHER'S  HAND.     By  George  Humphrey       .   1918  101 

\T.  B.    '                                  ]                                f    .   1915  103 

>»"  ICE  WATER,  PL  — !  "           -By  Fannie  Hurst  J     .   1916  106 

GET  READY  THE  WREATHS.  J                                 [    .   1917  109 

MR.  EBERDEEN'S  HOUSE.       j      A   h     Johnson|.   1915  i « 

THE  VISIT  OF  THE  MASTER. J    J                            J.   1918  116 

THE  STRANGE-LOOKING  MAN.     By  Fannie  Ke,m- 

ble  Johnson 1917  118 

VENGEANCE  Is  MINE.     By  Virgil  Jordan    .      .      .   1915  119 

THE  CALLER  IN  THE  NIGHT. i  ^    r>           T,..      f    .   1917  120 

~  LBy  Burton  Klines 

IN  THE  OPEN  CODE.               J                               L    .    1918  124 

LITTLE  SELVES.     By  Mary  Lerner 1916  126 

THE  WILLOW  WALK.     By  Sinclair  Lewis  .     .     .   1918  129 
THE  WEAVER  WHO  CLAD  THE  SUMMER.    By  Har- 
ris Merton  Lyon 1915  136 

THE  SUN  CHASER.     By  Jeannette  Marks  .      .     .   1916  139 
THE    STORY   VINTON   HEARD   AT   MALLORIE.     By 

Katharine  Prescott  Moseley 1918  143 

HEART  OF  YOUTH.              \  By  Walter  J.  Mullen- f.   1915  145 

AT  THE  END  OF  THE  ROAD.  J     burg                         \.   1916  147 

AT  THE  END  OF  THE  PATH.     By  Newbold  Noyes  .   1915  149 
THE  WHALE  AND  THE  GRASSHOPPER.     By  Seumas 

O'Brien 1915  151 

IN  BERLIN.     By  Mary  Boyle  O'Reilly  ....   1915  153 

THE  INTERVAL.     By  Vincent  O'Sullivan      .      .      .   1917  154 
THE  TOAST  TO  FORTY-FIVE.     By  William  Dudley 

Pelley 1918  156 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

THE  BIG  STRANGER  ON  DORCHESTER  HEIGHTS.     By 

Albert  Du  Verney  Pentz 1916     159 

"  A  CERTAIN  RICH  MAN  — ."    By  Lawrence  Perry  1917     161 
THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.     By  Mary  Brecht  Pulver  .   1917     165 

EXTRA  MEN.     By  Harrison  Rhodes 1918     170 

THE    WAITING    YEARS.     By    Katharine    Metcalf 
Roof 

Rosenblatt{     ; 

THE  SURVIVORS.] -D    -,-..  .    c.  "1 .     .     , 

PENANCE.  JBy  Els.e  Smgmaster  j      _ 

FEET  OF  GOLD.     By  Arthur  Gordon  Smith  .     , 

SOLITAIRE.     By  Fleta  Campbell  Springer  .     . 

THE  YELLOW  CAT.  *] 

DOWN  ON  THEIR  KNEES.         I  By  Wilbur  Daniel 

CHING,  CHING,  CHINAMAN.  f    Steele 

THE  DARK  HOUR. 

THE  BIRD  OF  SERBIA.     By  Julian  Street     .     .     . 

THE  BOUNTY  JUMPER.  1~    ,,  f. 

NONE  So  BLIND.  JBy  Mary  Synonj  ^     ;     | 

HALF-PAST  TEN.  By  Alice  L.  Tildesley  .  .  . 
AT  ISHAM'S.  By  Edward  C.  Venable  .... 
DE  VILMARTE'S  LUCK.  By  Mary  Heaton  Vorse  . 
THE  WHITE  BATTALION.  By  Frances  Gilchrist 

Wood 1918    219 


GENERAL  SUGGESTIONS 

Read  the  story  before  taking  up  the  exercises. 

Consult  the  biographical  data  in  the  Yearbooks  for 
1916,  1917,  and  1918. 

Observe  to  what  extent  the  various  authors  have  re- 
flected the  country  or  region  in  which  they  have  lived. 
What  conclusions  do  you  draw? 

Many  of  the  stories  conform  to  the  laws  of  the 
"  Greek  Unities."  Name  them. 

The  following  list  is  composed  of  the  stories  which  are 
best  for  structural  study. 

— "  A  Simple  Act  of  Piety  " 

—"The  Sacrificial  Altar" 

—"The  Water  Hole" 

+"  The  Great  Auk  " 

— "  Boys  Will  Be  Boys  " 

-"The  Gay  Old  Dog" 

— "  The  Knight's  Move  " 

— "In  Maulmain  Fever -Ward" 

+"  A  Jury  of  Her  Peers  " 

+"The  Cat  of  the  Cane-Brake" 

— "  The  Bunker  Mouse  " 

+"  T.  B." 

+"'Ice  Water,  PI ! '" 

— "  Get  Ready  the  Wreaths  " 

— "  Mr.  Eberdeen's  House  " 

— "  The  Willow  Walk  " 

+"  '  A  Certain  Rich  Man  — '  " 

— "  The  Path  of  Glory  " 

'+"  The  Waiting  Years  " 

— "  Solitaire  " 

H-"  The  Yellow  Cat " 

x 


..  .-:.-...; GENERAL  SUGGESTIONS 

— "  Down  on  Their  Knees  " 

— "  Ching,  Ching,  Chinaman  " 

+"The  Bounty- Jumper" 

+"  None  So  Blind  " 

+"  Half-Past  Ten." 

The  plus  signs  are  prefixed  to  the  titles  of  stories 
which  present  the  action  in  a  closely  circumscribed  time 
and  place.  Study  the  stories  to  which  the  minus  sign  is 
prefixed  to  see  how  the  authors  have  managed  an  ex- 
tended period  of  time  and  place,  or  of  either.  On  what 
phase  of  the  action  has  emphasis  been  placed?  How 
has  each  author  achieved  unity  of  effect?  Notice  the 
definite  plot  stages  in  these  narratives  marked  by  excel- 
lence of  structure.  Although  the  technique  of  every 
writer  may  differ  from  that  of  every  other,  yet  in  his 
story  he  will  see  to  it,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  that 
high  points,  "  lights,"  or  climaxes  occur.  It  is  a  far  call 
from  the  Roman  biga  to  the  modern  automobile;  but 
wheels,  body  and  motor  attachment  characterize  each  as 
a  vehicle.  From  Poe  to  the  present,  the  short-story 
vehicle  has  had,  and  will  continue  to  have,  certain  type 
features. 

The  titles  should  be  studied  for  their  attractiveness, 
originality,  suggestiveness  and  bearing  on  the  story. 

The  title  may  be : 

a.  The    name    of    the    chief    character  — "  Onnie," 
"  Chautonville." 

b.  An  epithet  applied  to  the  chief  character  — "  The 
Great  Auk,"  "  The  Bunker  Mouse." 

c.  A  place  — "  Mr.  Eberdeen's  House,"  "  The  Water- 
Hole." 

d.  A    suggestion    of — i.  An    objective    theme    or 
idea— "The    Excursion,"    "The    Wake."     2.  A 
subjective  theme  or  idea  — "  The  Sacrificial  Al- 
tar," "  Boys  will  be  Boys." 

e.  An  allusion  expressed  fully,  in  part,  or  conveyed 
by    implication  — "  Vengeance    is    Mine,"    "  The 
Path  of  Glory." 

One  of  the  most  difficult  titles  to  create  is  that  which 


GENERAL  SUGGESTIONS 

has  a  veiled  suggestion,  some  bearing  on  the  story  that  is 
clear  or  significant  only  after  the  story  has  been  read; 
e.g.,  "  Get  Ready  the  Wreaths,"  "  The  Interval." 

Group  the  stories  according  to  dominant  motives,  ob- 
serving with  what  frequence  certain  universal  motive- 
themes  occur.  For  example,  the  sacrifice  motive  is 
found  in  the  following:  "  The  Sacrificial  Altar,"  "  On- 
nie,"  "  The  Emperor  of  Elam,"  "  The  Gay  Old  Dog," 
"  The  Knight's  Move,"  "  The  Bunker  Mouse,"  "  Making 
Port,"  "The  Sun  Chaser,"  "Heart  of -Youth,"  "A  Cer- 
tain Rich  Man,"  "  Zelig,"  "  The  Menorah,"  "  The  Bounty- 
Jumper,"  "  None  So  Blind." 

In  each  of  the  stories  just  named,  what  feeling  or 
power  prompts  the  sacrifice?  What  is  the  sacrifice? 
What  is  the  effect  of  the  sacrifice  on  the  one  making  it? 
On  the  one  for  whom  it  is  made  ?  On  the  reader  ?  On 
the  final  story-impression? 

Study  the  following  as  the  best  examples  of  realism: 
"The  Excursion,"  "Ma's  Pretties,"  "Lonely  Places," 
"  The  Silent  Infare,"  "  The  Big  Stranger  on  Dorchester 
Heights."  What  difference,  structurally,  do  you  observe 
between  these  narratives  and  those  developed  by  the  more 
"  romantic  "  writer  ? 

In  every  story  try  to  find  indications  of  the  author's 
theories  about  fiction  or  Art  in  general.  For  instance, 
in  "  Feet  of  Gold  " :  "  Naturally,  since  all  of  us  are  ar- 
tists, we  seek  the  Truth  through  Beauty  " ;  etc.  (p.  309). 

Characters  may  be  described  by  the  author.  This,  the 
so-called  "  direct "  method,  is  not  in  reality  so  direct  or 
vivid  as  the  so-called  "  indirect "  method.  By  the  latter 
a  character  reveals  himself  through  act,  speech,  gesture; 
he  is  also  portrayed  by  what  others  say  about  him,  and 
by  their  reactions  toward  him. 

What  difference  exists  in  spirit,  mood  and  tempo  be- 
tween the  stories  marked,  respectively,  by  the  direct  and 
the  indirect  methods? 

By  how  many  stories  are  you  attracted  at  the  begin- 
ning? Does  the  drawing  power  lie  in  character,  sug- 
gested action,  the  picture  of  a  setting,  the  mood  or 


GENERAL  SUGGESTIONS 

atmosphere,  in  some  bit  of  philosophy,  or  other  appeal? 

Do  any  of  the  stories  fall  below  expectation  first 
aroused?  Why?  How  many  fulfill  the  initial  promise? 

Which  have  the  best  endings?  How  many  of  these 
seemed  inevitable  from  an  early  stage  of  the  action? 
How  many  might  have  had  diverse  endings,  altogether? 
How  many  might  have  used  different  incidents  for  the 
close,  with  the  same  general  effect? 

Which  of  the  narratives  seem  to  you  most  artistically 
representative  of  life? 

According  to  the  localities  represented  by  these 
authors,  try  to  arrive  at  the  "  short-story  center  "of  the 
United  States. 

In  the  following  studies,  try  to  enter  constructively 
into  the  processes  indicated.  Otherwise  the  exercises 
will  lose  part  of  their  value. 


STUDIES  IN  DETAIL 


A  SIMPLE  ACT  OF  PIETY 

GERMINAL  IDEA:  Captain  Abdullah,  an  Asiatic,  but 
educated  partly,  and  living  altogether,  in  the  Occident, 
finds  himself  at  times,  he  declares,  in  the  position,  less 
emotional  than  intellectual  and  cultural,  where  he  has  to 
make  a  choice  between  the  ideals  of  East,  or  West  of 
Suez.  In  addition,  his  friends  often  ask  him  to  explain 
certain  Oriental  characteristics,  motivations  and  view- 
points. 

"  Due  either  to  a  vital  difference  in  the  acceptance  and 
usage  of  basic  standards,  or  to  my  personal  inability  of 
expressing  with  the  spoken  word  what  I  feel  tersely  to  be 
true,  I  have  always  been  unable  in  these  discussions  to 
express  the  one  truth  which  I  know ;  namely,  that  all  this 
talk  about  the  Orient  being  romantic  and  mysterious  and 
rather  high  strung  is  asinine  drivel,  that  indeed  the  shoe 
hurts  on  the  other  foot,  and  that  it  is  the  West  which  is 
romantic,  both  as  to  life  and  motivation  of  life,  while  the 
East  is  as  drab  and  grey  and  square  as  a  question  in  ab- 
stract dynamics. 

"  I  make  this  claim  chiefly  in  regard  to  the  Chinese,  who 
are  the  Orientals  par  excellence.  I  consider  them  the 
most  logical,  the  most  straight  thinking,  and  by  the  same 
token,  the  most  civilized  race  on  earth,  not  excepting  the 
Latins,  the  Hindus,  the  Arabs,  or  the  Anglo-Saxons.  I 
believe  them  to  be  the  only  people  who  live  up  to  the 
sound  dogma  that  two  and  twro  make  four,  and  never 
four  and  a  quarter,  or  three  and  two  thirds.  I  hold  that 
they  are  the  easiest  people  in  the  world  to  understand, 
that  they  carry  their  hearts  on  their  sleeves,  and  that  they 

i 


2     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

always  mean  exactly  what  they  say,  and  say  exactly  what 
they  mean,  in  direct  contrast  to  the  Occidentals.  .  .  . 

"  The  starting  point  of  my  tale,  a  whole  series  of 
Chinatown  tales,  directly  due  to  a  conversation  I  had  in 
Chicago  with  Mr.  Ray  Long  of  the  Red  Book,  who  said 
that  since  I  seemed  unable  to  interpret  the  Sons  of  the 
Middle  Kingdom  with  the  spoken  word  I  should  try  the 
written  word,  was  therefore  the  fundamental  prosiness 
and  simplicity  of  the  Oriental,  the  Chinaman,  in  contrast 
to  the  complicated,  suicidal  emotionalism  and  maniacal 
psychologizing  of  the  Occidental  —  the  latter  characteris- 
tic including  a  painful  trick  of  dissecting  emotions  to 
such  a  degree  that  they  cease  to  be  emotions.  I  know 
China  and  the  Chinese  intimately,  and  am  fairly  familiar 
with  some  of  their  dialects. 

"  From  a  primitive,  Occidental  viewpoint,  murder  and 
a  wife's  faithlessness  seem  to  be  the  most  important 
things.  From  an  as  primitive  Eastern  viewpoint,  the 
same  two  things  are  the  most  negligible  things.  The 
thing  which  matters  most  to  the  Oriental  is  honor  and 
piety,  including  their  correct,  codified  outer  observances. 
"  Thence  my  story." 

PLOT.  Structurally  perfect,  the  plot  grows  naturally 
out  of  character. 

The  order  of  presentation  begins  with  the 

Denouement:  Nag  Hong  Fah  kills  Senora  Garcia. 
Circumstances  antecedent  to  the  story  action  are 
next  presented. —  I.  Fanny's  marriage  to  Nag  Hong 
Fah  indicated  in  "  She  was  his  wife,"  etc.  2.  Ac- 
count of  Fanny.  3.  Nag  Hong  Fan's  operations  pre- 
ceding the  proposal.  (Note  the  introduction  of  a 
second  line  of  interest  in  the  relations  between  Nag 
Hong  Fah  and  Yung  Long,  and  Yung  Quai.)  4. 
The  incident  of  the  proposal.  (Notice  the  clues: 
Fanny  claims  a  right  to  the  streets,  a  pointer  which 
is  augmented  by  the  addition  made,  under  her  breath, 
to  her  promise,  "  I'll  play  square.") 

Initial  Incident:    Through  Nag  Hong  Fah's  invi- 


A  SIMPLE  ACT  OF  PIETY  3 

tation  to  Yung  Long,  "  Come !  Have  a  drink ! " 
Fanny  and  Yung  Long  have  opportunity  to  appraise 
each  other. 

Steps  toward  Dramatic  Climax:  i.  Nag  Hong 
Fah  pays  cash  to  Yung  Long,  whom  heretofore  he 
has  paid  on  ninety  days'  leeway.  (What  does  this 
signify  as  to  the  relations  of  the  two  Chinamen?) 

2.  Birth  of  Brian,  Fanny's  son;  the  bestowal  of 
gifts  upon  Fanny  by  her  Chinese  husband. 

3.  The  incident  between   Fanny  and  her   friend 
Mamie  Ryan  (to  indicate  that  the  Chink  is  playing 
square,  and  therefore  Fanny).     Indications  of  Fan- 
ny's happiness. 

4.  Fanny  is  impressed  by  Yung  Long  but  holds 
to  her  "  squareness." 

5.  Nag  Hong  Fah  acquires  an  option  on  an  up- 
town restaurant  for  his  second  son. 

6.  Little  Fanny  is  born,  bringing  a  "  change  into 
the  marital  relations";  this  time,  no  gifts  are  be- 
stowed. 

7.  Nag  tells  Fanny  he  has  given  up  the  option. 
This  information  on  his  part  leads  directly  to  the 

Dramatic  Climax:  First  peak :  the  excellent  scene 
between  Fanny  and  Nag  Hong  Fah,  where  the  racial 
struggle  is  best  dramatized.  Fanny's  imploring  fails 
against  the  stony  wall  of  Nag  Hong  Fan's  deter- 
mination. All  must  be  as  he  says;  Little  Fanny 
will  be  disposed  of  as  he  sees  fit.  With  Fanny  the 
greater  wrong  disappears  in  the  lesser ;  she  forgets 
her  daughter's  education  in  recalling  that  she  had 
received  no  presents  at  the  child's  birth.  "  A  brace- 
let. .  .  .  That's  what  I'm  gonna  get !  "  marks  the 
beginning  of  the  resolution  of  the  complication,  which 
has  been  so  skilfully  effected.  The  first  peak  of 
the  climax  is  succeeded  by  the  second  peak:  Yung 
Long  in  passing  receives  Fanny's  message,  "  Swell 
looker ! " 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:    Summary 


4     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

repetitions  of  the  dramatic  climax  scene  emphasize 
the  winning  out  of  Nag  Hong  Fah.  2.  Nag  Hong 
Fah  receives  permission  from  the  official  head  of 
Fanny's  family  to  beat  her.  3.  She  becomes  the 
submissive  wife;  the  family  seems  a  model  of  hap- 
piness. 

4.  Fanny  exhibits  an  "  imitation  "  bracelet. 

5.  Her  apparent  adherence  to  "  the  straight  and 
narrow  "  is  intensified  by  Brian's  report  of  the  Fin- 
nish sailor  episode. 

6.  Fanny  comes   down  with  pneumonia.     (Does 
this  seem  logical  or  a  too  obvious   device  of  the 
author?) 

7.  Nag  writes  to  Yung  Quai  and  sends  money  for 
her  transportation  to  New  York. 

8.  He  indicates  to  the  dying  Fanny  that  he  will 
educate  her  daughter,  and  from  the  sale  of  Fanny's 
possessions  —  including  the   imitation  bracelet. 

Climax  of  Action  in  the  first  line  of  interest. — 

Fanny,  in  a  magnificent  final  flame  of  contempt  and 
victory,  declares  the  worth  of  the  bracelet,  and  that 
Yung  Long  gave  it  to  her.  (Recall  the  allusion, 
page  4,  to  this  point  as  the  "  dramatic  climax  "  for 
Nag  Hong  Fah.) 

Steps  toward  the  Denouement:  The  scene  be- 
tween Nag  Hong  Fah  and  Yung  Long,  wherein  Nag 
conveys  to  Yung  his  knowledge  of  the  gift,  and 
"  motivates  "  the  real  cause  of  the  gift.  Yung  af- 
firms Nag's  judgment,  and  further  indicates  that 
Senora  Garcia  might  best  be  put  out  of  the  way. 
Nag  Hong  Fah  agrees  that  it  would  be  but  a  simple 
act  of  piety  and  goes  to  get  his  knife.  (Do  they 
here  "  mean  what  they  say "  or  "  say  what  they 
mean  "  ?) 

The  struggle,  then,  in  the  first  line  of  interest  (the 
story  of  Fanny  and  Nag  Hong  Fah)  is  one  between 
the  Occident  and  the  Orient.  The  Occident  wins, 
in  the  person  of  Fanny.  But  because  of  the  sec- 


A  SIMPLE  ACT  OF  PIETY  5 

ond  line  of  interest  (the  story  of  Nag  Hong  Fah, 
Yung  Long  and  Yung  Quai),  the  victory  gives  way 
to  the  victory  of  the  Orient.  Study  the  story 
for  the  points  of  contact  of  these  two  lines,  the 
complication  effected,  and  the  unification  of  the  two 
interests. 

Suspense:  Suspense  sets  in  at  the  beginning, 
when  after  the  murder,  the  question  arises,  "  Why 
did  he  kill  her  ? "  This  question  is  accompanied 
by  a  desire  to  know  more  about  the  murderer. 
The  story  if  it  fulfils  the  implied  promise  will  ex- 
plain. Desire  to  know  whether  the  murderer  is 
apprehended  is  satisfied  after  the  next  hundred  words 
or  so,  in  the  sentence,  *'  For  he  is  still  at  liberty." 
Herein,  also,  lies  an  element  of  novelty;  the  more 
unoriginal  story  presents  the  crime,  then  arouses 
suspense  as  to  whether  the  criminal  will  be  caught, 
and  justice  meted  out.  (Study  the  story  for  further 
working  of  the  principle  of  suspense.  What  ques- 
tion motivates  your  reading  after  Nag  Hong  Fah 
beats  Fanny,  for  example?) 

Suggestion:  What  is  suggested  to  the  reader  in 
Fanny's  becoming  a  model  wife?  In  Miss  Ritter's 
speech  about  *'  Real  love  "  ?  In  the  "  imitation  " 
bracelet?  How  much  of  the  business  "off-stage," 
after  Fanny's  subsidence,  is  built  up  by  the 
reader?  , 

CHARACTERIZATION.  The  dominant  character  interest 
lies  in  the  racial  features,  which  are  set  off  by  contrast 
with  each  other.  The  author  manifests  skill  in  creating 
hybrid  Fanny,  a  product  of  racial  crossing.  In  order  of 
importance,  the  main  figures  are:  Nag  Hong  Fah, 
Fanny,  Yung  Long,  Quai  Long. 

Nag  Hong  Fah  is  played  up  as  the  chief  character 
through 

A.  His  role ;  he  is  easily  the  most  important  by  virtue 
of  the  part  assigned  to  him. 


6     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

B.  Dramatic  management  on  the  author's  part. 

1.  He  is  the  figure  most  constantly  found  on 
the  stage. 

2.  He  is  the  protagonist  in  the  scenes  presented. 

3.  He  is  frequently  followed  behind  the  scenes. 
(Purpose   here   being  to   create  variety  of 
effect,  so  far  as  is  consistent  with  a  larger 
unity. ) 

C.  Stylistic  management. 

I.  Giving  to  Nag  Hong  Fah  the  places  of 
rhetorical  emphasis  —  the  beginning  and  the 
end  of  the  story. 

Study  the  story  for  concrete  examples  that  illustrate 
the  main  points  just  made.  Study,  also,  the  proportion 
given  to  other  characters.  What  is  the  greatest  con- 
tributory value  of  Senora  Garcia?  Of  Edith  Ritter? 
Nag  Sen  Yet?  The  Chinese  Soothsayer?  Brian  Neill? 
Little  Brian?  Mamie  Ryan?  Little  Fanny?  Compare 
the  author's  ability  to  describe  physical  details  with  his 
skill  in  revealing  mental  characteristics.  To  what  extent 
does  the  outer  personality  reveal  the  inner?  Answer 
for  each  of  the  important  characters. 

LOCAL  COLOR. 

A.  Setting:     The  locality  is  conveyed  in  the  first 
sentence.     Where  is  it  repeated,  and  how?     What 
contrasts  do  you  find  in  the  larger  setting?     What 
details,  for  example,  contribute  to  the  Oriental  char- 
acteristics?    Which   to    the    American?     Value    of 
the  opium?  of  the  schooner  of  beer?  of  the  ivory 
sticks?     Why    is    the    flat    (page    5)    described    in 
detail  as  to  furnishings?     (Give  two  reasons,  from 
two  points  of  view.)     What  is  the  value  of  the  con- 
trast between  indications  of  wealth  and  of  the  neigh- 
borhood features? 

B.  Customs:     What   customs   testify   to   Captain 
Abdullah's  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  Chinese  ? 

C.  Speech:    Compare  the  Oriental  matter,  man- 


A  SIMPLE  ACT  OF  PIETY  7 

ner,  and  meaning  with  the  American  matter,  man- 
ner, and  meaning. 

D.  Dress:  What  bearing  on  character  have  the 
accessories  of  dress?  Yung  Long's  bowler  hat,  his 
loose  sleeves  and  fan,  Fanny's  furs,  the  earrings  of 
jade,  and  the  bracelet  —  all  serve  what  purpose? 

Atmosphere:  Captain  Abdullah  says  (page  4) 
"  the  tale  is  of  the  Orient."  Note  that  he  has  se- 
cured the  Oriental  feel,  or  atmosphere,  modified 
slightly  by  the  American  intrusion,  through  the  har- 
monizing of  character,  speech,  dress,  customs, — 
above  all,  by  emphasizing  the  things  "  which  matter 
most  to  the  Oriental."  Contrast  to  similar  Occiden- 
tal characteristics  is  subordinated  to  the  intensifica- 
tion, and  is,  therefore,  contributorv  to  the  larger 
impression. 

As  to  the  short-story,  Captain  Abdullah  thinks  that 
length  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  "  It  can  be  seven  hun- 
dred words  long,  or  seventy  thousand.  As  to  the  latter 
length,  I  consider  Frank  Swinnerton's  Nocturne  a 
short-story."  And  he  offers  as  a  tentative  definition  this : 
"  The  short-story  is  a  story  grouped  logically  about  the 
same  character  and  characters,  every  bit  of  plot  and  ac- 
tion working  together  to  affect,  influence,  and  make  a 
background  for  the  same  character  and  characters,  elimi- 
nating, in  contrast  to  a  novel,  all  side  issues."  .  .  . 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ALTAR 

GERMINAL  IDEA.  "  It  is  so  long  since  I  wrote  *  The 
Sacrificial  Altar '  that  I  am  rather  hazy.  My  impression 
is  that  I  set  out  to  draw  a  born  artist  hampered  by  certain 
disabilities,  and  one  of  these  being  a  disinclination  for 
life  and  utter  absence  of  the  love  instinct,  all  the  forces 
of  his  nature  concentrated  upon  his  art,  until  they 
reached  the  point  of  obsession.  It  was  not  until  after 
he  had  written  the  last  book  that  he  reacted  to  the  normal 
instincts  he  had  inherited  and  which  had  been  auto- 
matically developed  by  the  most  normal  bourgeoisie  on 
earth." —  Gertrude  Atherton. 
ANALYSIS  OF  PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:  Cesar  Dupont  persuades  Louis 
Bac  to  meet  Berthe.  (Note,  even  in  the  single  in- 
cident, the  struggle  —  one  of  wills  —  and  the  argu- 
ment which  wins  the  younger  man.) 

Steps  to  the  Dramatic  Climax:  i.  Louis  meets 
Berthe  and  "  feels  nothing."  2.  " —  a  daring  idea 
sprang  .  .  .  darted  into  Louis's  relaxed  brain."  3. 
Louis  goes  to  the  Dupont  mansion,  steals  to  the 
girl's  room,  sees  her  asleep.  "  He  gazed  resentfully 
at  that  diminished  beauty.  .  .  .  Why  not  give  her 
a  fright  ?  "  He  seizes  a  pillow  and  presses  it  against 
her  face.  "  She  made  a  sudden  downward  move- 
ment, gurgling.  With  a  quick,  cat-like  leap  he  was 
on  her  chest." 

Dramatic    Climax:    His    soul    and   passions    are 

liberated.     "  The  body  lay  limp  and  flabby  at  last." 

Steps  to  the  Climax  of  Action:     i.  Louis  takes 

pains  to  divert  suspicion  from  himself.     2.  In  the 

next  three  months  he  writes  his  book.     (Note  that 

8 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ALTAR  9 

this  is  the  climax  of  action  in  the  artist's  struggle, 
that  the  murder  is  the  turning  point  after  which  he 
succeeds  artistically.  But  the  climax  of  action  for 
the  man  is  yet  to  come.)  3.  At  the  end  of  the  three 
months,  he  hears  that  another  has  been  hanged  as 
the  murderer.  4.  He  confesses  to  M.  Dupont.  5. 
Dupont  refuses  to  believe  the  story.  6.  Louis  writes 
his  confession. 

The  Climax  of  Action:  He  walks  to  the  Catholic 
cemetery  and  shuts  himself  into  the  family  vault. 

Denouement:  Left  to  the  reader.  By  a  clue  on 
page  1 6  one  would  gather  that  Bac  drank  poison  or 
cut  his  wrists. 

Study  the  development  of  this  plot,  as  to  scenes, 
summaries,  condensations,  accelerations,  gaps,  and 
omissions  with  reference  to  the  artistic  effect.  P"or 
example,  the  initial  incident  is  presented  dramati- 
cally, the  characters  act  it  before  the  reader.  The 
steps  to  the  dramatic  climax  are  presented  partly  in 
retrospect,  from  Louis's  point  of  view ;  those  nearest 
the  climax  are  given  dramatically. 

Study  the  plot,  also,  with  respect  to  the  struggle. 
What  details  are  **  for "  Louis's  artistic  success  ? 
How  are  they  related  to  those  "  against  "  his  physical 
being? 

Is  the  plot,  in  connection  with  the  development  of 
Louis's  character,  probable?  What  logic  has  the 
author  employed  to  make  it  seem  so?  Mrs.  Ather- 
ton's  own  testimony  is  valuable  by  way  of  reflecting 
the  artist's  temperament.  As  she  herself  says,  al- 
though she  has  never  been  impelled  to  murder  and 
has  had  always  a  consuming  interest  in  life,  yet  until 
the  war,  she  never  permitted  anything  to  interfere 
with  her  work. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  What  value  is  there  in  Louis 
Bac's  being  French?  Mrs.  Atherton  plays  up  Louis  by 
making  him  the  spot-light  figure  and  by  presenting  the 


io     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

story  from  his  angle.  The  invasion  of  his  mind  results, 
incidentally,  in  the  reader's  seeing  the  setting,  situation, 
and  characters  as  he  sees  them. 

Study  the  author's  description  and  exposition  of  Louis 
Bac,  then  his  speeches  and  his  acts.  What  do  the  other 
characters  think  of  him?  Observe  how  the  various 
methods  of  portraiture  strengthen  one  another  in  the 
finished  portrait. 

Berthe  is  lightly  touched.  The  reader  must  u  believe  " 
in  her  as  a  beautiful  young  girl,  but  must  not  give  her 
too  great  sympathy.  Overmuch  attention  to  her  would 
have  detracted  from  the  character  unity  of  the  narrative. 

Cesar  Dupont  is  the  contemporary  representative  of 
the  confidant,  offering  opportunity  for  dramatic  form  (in 
the  scene  work)  and  consequent  interest.  Unity  of 
action  and  effect  is  conserved  by  making  him  Berthe's 
uncle;  moreover,  probability  and  verisimilitude  are 
gained  by  the  relationship.  Madame  Dupont,  M.  Jules 
Constant,  Louis's  servants,  and  others,  are  the  back- 
ground characters,  carefully  subdued  so  as  not  to  inter- 
fere with  the  chief  action  and  consequent  story  unity. 

Note  every  reference  to  San  Francisco,  then  ask  your- 
self how  strongly  the  setting  works  toward  the  securing 
of  the  reader's  credulity.  Try  telling  the  story,  mentally, 
without  allusion  to  locale.  What  is  lost  ?  "  On  a 
pedestal  was  a  vase  that  had  belonged  to  Napoleon, 
wired  and  fastened  down,"  etc.  What  is  the  value  of 
this  sentence  in  the  direction  of  capturing  belief? 
Study  the  management  of  the  time  element. 

ATMOSPHERE.  Study  the  feeling  of  the  story  in  con- 
nection with  the  place.  The  first  sentence  of  the  narra- 
tive strikes  the  tone  "  gray,"  and  gives  the  setting. 
"Lone  Mountain"  conveys  what  impression?  The 
cemetery,  used  so  powerfully  in  the  climax  of  action, 
deepens  the  gray  note  to  its  most  somber  hue.  This 
increased  depth  of  tone  works  integratively  with  the 
action  to  the  powerful  climax.  Point  out  all  the  words 
and  phrases  that  intensify  the  atmosphere. 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ALTAR  n 

PRESENTATION  OF  THE  ACTION.  The  narrator  is  the 
author  who  knows  all,  sees  all,  and  exercises  omniscience 
over  Louis's  mind. 

Tell  the  plot  without  adhering  to  Louis's  point  of  view, 
placing  every  event  in  the  order  of  its  occurrence.     Note 
the  loss  in  suspense  and  cumulative  effect. 
DETAILS. 

Suspense:  Where  does  the  story  first  grip  you, 
and  why?  At  what  point  does  the  cause  for  sus- 
pense change,  and  with  what  "bearing  on  your 
interest  ? 

Clues:  Make  a  list  of  clues  to  the  tragic  con- 
clusion; e.g.,  "  If  I  am  awake"  (page  33). 

Proportion:  How  much  of  the  narrative  is  de- 
voted to  antecedent  circumstances  ?  Notice  the  long 
preliminary,  the  logical  necessity  for  an  accurate 
disclosure  of  character  at  the  beginning,  and  com- 
pare it  with  the  fine  art  which  leaves  the  denouement 
partly  to  the  reader. 

Suggestion. —  At  what  points  did  you  uncon- 
sciously create  incidents  or  summarize  them? 

GENERAL  METHODS  OF  MRS.  ATHERTON.  "  I  rarely 
have  the  solution  of  a  story  or  novel  in  mind,  merely 
the  principal  character,  the  central  idea,  and  the  mis-en- 
scene.  I  prefer  to  let  the  story  work  itself  out.  Else, 
where  would  be  the  fun  in  it?  Writing  to  me  is  an  ad- 
venture, and  if  I  knew  beforehand  how  it  was  to  turn 
out  I  should  take  no  more  interest  in  it  than  I  should 
take  in  the  following  year  if  I  knew  what  was  to  happen 
every  day.  Nevertheless,  I  would  reject  any  finale  that 
I  did  not  think  logical.  An  arbitrary  ending  for  the  sake 
of  dramatic  effect  or  conciliating  the  public  makes  the 
whole  book  or  story  worthless  artistically." 


THE  EXCURSION 

GERMINAL  IDEA,  OR  STARTING-POINT.  "  The  '  Excur- 
sion '  was  written  from  the  humorous  delight  I  have 
always  felt  an  excursions;  it  was  started  merely  as 
humorous  description  of  certain  inevitable  excursion 
types.  I  put  the  '  story '  into  already  written  apprecia- 
tions of  sartorial  and  millinery  triumphs  as  demonstrated 
on  any  well-developed  excursion." — Edwina  Stanton 
Babcock. 

CLASSIFICATION.  A  study  in  realism,  wherein  the 
general  picture  and  all  the  excursionists  are  of  quite  as 
much  importance  as  the  few  predominant  characters. 

PLOT.  Loosely  interpreted,  plot  may  be  termed  a 
summing  up  of  the  "  story,"  a  recapitulation.  Tech- 
nically, the  plot  is  the  underlying  plan  "  of  which  no  part 
can  be  removed  without  ruin  to  the  whole  " ;  it  is  the 
development  of  the  struggle  or  conflict  which  every 
"  short-story "  possesses  in  common  with  the  drama. 

What  in  "  The  Excursion  "  is  the  struggle  ?  What  part 
does  the  dialogue  between  the  two  sisters  play  in  the 
revelation  of  the  struggle?  If  the  struggle  were  made 
dominant,  what  lamentable  result  would  follow  for  the 
"  situation  "  value  of  the  whole  narrative  ?  Is  there  a 
hint  near  the  conclusion  that  the  struggle  may  have  an 
outcome?  Is  the  plot  finished,  then,  as  the  author  has 
left  it  ?  What  is  the  embryonic  dramatic  climax  or  turn- 
ing point?  (Find  the  moment  when  the  feelings  of 
the  passengers  change  toward  Mrs.  Tuttle.) 

CHARACTERIZATION.  What  types  are  represented  in 
Mrs.  Tuttle?  Mrs.  Cronney?  Mrs.  Tinneray?  Mr. 
Tinneray?  Mrs.  Mealer?  Mrs.  Bean?  The  "  lady  in 
a  purple  raincoat  "  ?  "A  mild  mannered  youth  with  no 

12 


THE  EXCURSION  13 

chin?"  Miss  Mealer?  Hypatia  Smith?  Test  the 
economy  and  effectiveness  of  Miss  Babcock's  portrayal 
by  asking  yourself  what  further  things  these  people 
would  do  or  say.  Are  the  types  such  as  would  be  found 
in  the  same  boat? 

Compare  the  few  figures  of  prominence  with  those 
of  the  background.  Are  they  in  "  high  relief  "  or  "  low 
relief"? 

ATMOSPHERE.  Realistic ;  it  has  the  "  feel "  of  the 
typical  American  excursion.  To  achieve  it,  were  neces- 
sary the  author's  keen  observation,  sane  vision,  and  sense 
of  humor. 

ACCESSORY  DETAILS.  Enhancing  and  emphasizing  the 
reality  of  the  occasion  are  the  features,  objects,  and  acts 
associated  with  excursions.  The  crunch  of  peanuts,  the 
search  for  chewing  gum,  the  squinting  through  ivory- 
headed  canes, —  such  details  of  the  composition  indicate 
meticulous  workmanship  on  the  part  of  Miss  Babcock. 
Notice  whether  these  features  appeal  rather  to  sight,  to 
hearing,  or  to  other  senses.  What  do  you  deduce? 

GENERAL  METHODS  OF  Miss  BABCOCK.  "  To  me,  in 
writing,  the  story  is  keyed  by  a  face,  the  note  of  a  man's 
or  a  woman's  voice,  a  bit  of  lonely  moorland,  a  scene 
in  a  railway  station,  some  little  amusing  bit  some  one 
tells  me.  Then  comes  incubation  for  an  absurdly  uncer- 
tain time.  Then  I  dress  up  in  a  mass  of  what  seems 
to  me  related  detail  the  significant  centre,  trying  usually 
to  thrust  in  a  few  bits  of  humor  for  the  simple  reason 
that  life  is  made  of  it  and  the  huge  wonder  is  that  the 
whole  world  does  not  '  grin  like  a  dog  and  go  about  the 
city.'  ...  I  love  to  paint  things  I've  seen  —  particularly 
natural  things.  .  .  ." 


CRUELTIES 

STARTING  POINT.  Edwina  Stanton  Babcock  says  that 
"  Cruelties  "  was  written  around  the  figure  of  the  spinster, 
Frenzy,  at  whom  she  has  had  peeps  for  nearly  eighteen 
years.  Her  formal  and  carefully  elaborate  English, — 
her  garden,  and  her  worries  over  it  —  all  are  drawn  from 
what  Miss  Babcock  considers  story  material  "  for  any 
one."  Mrs.  Tyarck  and  Mrs.  Capron  were  painted  in  con- 
trasts, and  *'  little  Johnny  Tyarck  and  what  went  on  in- 
side of  his  wispy  head  at  prayer  meeting  was  put  in  be- 
cause of  my  own  ceaseless  wonder  as  to  what  goes  on 
inside  the  heads  of  the  Johnny  Tyarcks  of  this  world." 

"  Cruelties "  took  a  long  time  to  crystallize  and  it 
seemed  to  me  that  the  denouement  never  really  consum- 
mated. I  longed  to  have  the  wayward  girl  more  of  a  per- 
son, but  the  confines  of  the  story  would  not  allow  it. 
I  wrote  four  drafts  of  it,  cutting  out  quantities  each 
time." 

PLOT.  Compared  with  "  The  Excursion,"  this  story 
possesses  a  framework  more  substantial  and  of  better 
architecture.  Though  most  readers  will  be  interested  in 
the  personality  of  the. characters,  rather  than  in  the  ac- 
tion, nevertheless  they  will  enjoy  the  steady  and  per- 
ceptible progress  to  the  solution  of  the  slight  complica- 
tion. This  complication  the  author  has  effected  through 
the  entangling  of  two  interests.  The  first  is  the  one- 
sided struggle  which  arises  between  the  women,  Mrs. 
Tyarck  et  al,  and  Miss  Giddings  —  one-sided,  inasmuch 
as  the  former  are  active,  while  the  latter  is  passive.  It 
is  motivated  by  Frenzy's  attempt  to  rid  her  roses  of 
worms.  (Is  this  motivation  sufficient  to  account  for  the 
animosity?  What  circumstance  abets  it?  What  value 

14 


CRUELTIES  15 

has  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Capron  is  a  tract  distributor?) 
The  second  line  of  interest  has  to  do  with  the  young 
girl's  downfall  and  rehabilitation.  The  fact  that  Miss 
Giddings  becomes  her  champion  increases  the  petty  ani- 
mosity. The  outcome  of  the  complication  shows  Frenzy 
triumphant,  in  the  scene  between  her  and  Mrs.  Tyarck. 
Are  you  satisfied  with  this  denouement?  Why? 
What  motivation  has  Miss  Babcock  employed  to  ex- 
plain the  girl's  taking  refuge  with  Miss  Giddings?  Is  it 
adequate  and  convincing? 

Initial  Incident:  Two  phases,  each  suggesting  an 
individual  line  of  interest.  I.  Scene  in  Frenzy's 
shop;  the  women  see  the  girl  pass.  2.  Scene  in 
Frenzy's  garden,  emphasizing  the  struggle  between 
Frenzy  and  insects.  (What  significance  has  the  fact 
that  the  ladies  enter  into  relations  with  the  fly-paper  ? 
What  symbolic  part  has  the  cherry  tree?) 

Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  Mrs.  Capron 
prays  the  Lord  to  "  keep  us  from  needless  cruel- 
ties." The  author  summarily  indicates  that  Frenzy 
becomes  the  butt  of  petty  spite. 

Dramatic  Climax:  First  phase,  as  narrated,  lies 
in  Miss  Giddings's  metaphorical  burial.  Her  enemies 
are  at  the  highest  peak  of  their  mean  triumph.  The 
second  phase,  intensifying  the  first,  indicates  the 
girl's  downfall.  (Point  out  the  forecast  to  this 
dramatic  climax.) 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:  I.  The  inci- 
dent of  the  girl's  return.  2.  Miss  Frenzy  keeps  her, 
as  an  assistant.  3.  Mrs.  Tyarck,  in  disapproval, 
takes  her  patronage  to  the  "  other "  store ;  Mrs. 
Capron  bestows  tracts. 

Climax  of  Action:  Frenzy  turns  the  tables  in 
completely  routing  her  enemy.  (Scene  between  Mrs. 
Tyarck  and  Frenzy.) 

Denouement:  Frenzy's  conjecture  about  the 
cherry-tree  closes  the  story. 

(What  does  the  author  lose  in  summarizing,  rather 


16     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

than  in  dramatizing,  her  dramatic  climax?     What 
does  she  gain  in  relative  values  by  its  subdual?) 

CHARACTERIZATION.  By  emphasizing  physical  traits 
Miss  Babcock  has  differentiated  her  characters  unmis- 
takably, if  a  bit  obviously.  Frenzy's  stiffly  refined  dic- 
tion (in  contrast  to  the  slangy  speech  of  coarse  Mrs. 
Tyarck),  and  Mrs.  Capron's  hawking  illustrate  her 
method.  Tabulate  the  characteristics  of  the  chief  figures. 

How  has  she  individualized  them  by  their  acts?  In 
connection  with  your  study  of  personal  appearance,  evalu- 
ate the  use:  i.  Of  the  "  two  large  pins  of  green  .  .  .  like 
bulbous,  misplaced  eyes  "...  2.  Of  the  wing  on  Mrs. 
Tyarck's  hat.  3.  Of  the  girl's  red  sweater. 

The  only  masculine  figures  who  appear  on  the  stage 
are  little  Johnnie  Tyarck  and  Mr.  Bloomby.  Is  the  fact 
that  their  male  presence  contributes  to  background,  or 
to  realistic  effect,  a  sufficient  gain  for  shifting  to  their 
respective  points  of  view? 

Which  of  the  characters  is  most  frequently  found  in 
every  day  life? 

LOCAL  COLOR.  To  what  extent  do  the  details  of  set- 
ting (including  customs,  dialect,  dress)  typify  any  Ameri- 
can rural  community?  Can  you  justify  the  full  para- 
graph on  the  buttons? 

TIME  ELEMENT.  How  has  the  author  handled  the 
flight  of  months  without  seeming  unduly  to  prolong  the 
action  or  to  break  the  unity  of  effect? 

ATMOSPHERE.  Realistic,  it  reflects  the  mood  of  the 
author  who  sees  life  as  it  is,  rather  than  of  the  author 
dominated  by  so-called  "  temperament."  She  sees  char- 
acters and  events,  for  the  most  part,  through  the  kindly 
glow  of  humor. 

What  double  cause  for  smiling  exists  in  the  title  of 
the  tract  delivered  in  the  first  scene?  Point  out  other 
examples  of  humor. 

"  Usually  in  beginning  a  story,"  Miss  Babcock  says, 
"  the  first  paragraph  sets  a  sort  of  mechanism  going  in 


CRUELTIES  17 

me  and  controls  the  tone  and  atmosphere  of  the  story. 
Thus,  you  see,  I  almost  have  to  begin  with  a  paragraph 
a  little  long.  My  great  difficulty  is  my  love  of  description 
and  painting  of  pictures  —  I  despair  of  characters  because 
I  know  that  one  really  never  gets  the  whole  character  into 
the  story,  any  more  than  one  gets  it  in  life.  I  think  the 
writer  must  make  the  character  act  like  its  description.  A 
spit-curl  character  must  have  spit-curl  ideas  and  be- 
havior. The  more  I  write  the  more  I  am  convinced  that 
the  writer  is  a  slave  to  two  contradictory  convictions; 
that  is,  that  he  must  give  the  truth  of  the  story  as  he 
has  visioned  it,  and  that  there  is  no  truth  but  that  the 
story-telling  art  has  its  very  beginning  in  creating  illu- 


ONNIE 

CLASSIFICATION.  Onnie  is  a  story  of  character;  the 
trait  exploited  leads  to  the  tragic  denouement. 

GERMINAL  IDEA.  "  The  genesis  of  f  Onnie '  was  a  de- 
sire to  record  the  dialect  of  one  Patrick  Qualey,  a 
gardener,  now  extinct.  Patrick  had  preserved  to  the 
age  of  seventy  his  Celtic  fibre  quite  unimpaired.  I  think 
he  rather  prided  himself  on  the  act,  and,  perhaps,  em- 
broidered the  garment  of  his  speech  a  trifle.  He  died 
very  tamely  of  pneumonia,  and  Forest  County,  Pa.,  was 
not  his  abiding  place.  As  for  Onnie,  I  confess  that  I 
am  weary  of  lovely  Irishwomen,  and  a  witty  Irishwoman 
I  have  never  met.  .  .  ." —  Thomas  Beer. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Read  the  story  rapidly,  and  im- 
mediately ask  yourself,  "  What  impression  have  I  re- 
ceived of  Onnie,  physically,  mentally,  and  spiritually?" 
Go  over  the  story  again,  making  note  of  every  mention 
of  Onnie,  and  observe  how  forcefully,  yet  adroitly,  the 
author  has  emphasized  details.  What  is  the  value  of 
having  different  characters  observe  her  monstrousness 
and  her  homeliness? 

Notice  that  Onnie's  superstition  makes  her  say,  "  The 
gifts  of  children  are  the  blessin's  of  Mary's  self,"  but 
that  her  "  odd  scapular "  has  a  sinister  significance 
throughout.  Is  this  sinister  suggestion  in  harmony  with 
the  final  sacrifice?  Estimate  the  number  of  words  in  the 
story,  then  the  number  emphasizing  Onnie;  finally,  the 
proportion  devoted  to  the  main  incident  and  preparation 
for  it.  What  is  the  length  of  time  over  which  Onnie's 
devotion  to  San  extends?  The  length  of  the  "story" 
part  of  the  narrative?  If  the  proportion  were  reversed, 

18 


ONNIE  19 

what  would  be  the  effect  on  the  character  work?  On 
the  poignancy? 

Name  in  order  the  other  characters  of  the  narrative, 
and  notice  the  proportion  given  to  each.  Study  the  ways 
in  which  the  author  makes  San  a  lovable  youngster. 
Take  account  of  h's  acts,  his  speeches,  what  his  father 
thinks  of  him,  what  the  men  do  for  his  protection.  In 
the  same  way,  take  stock  of  the  ways  whereby  Percival 
is  presented  as  a  villain  of  the  lowest  type. 

Are  there  too  many  characters  in  Onnie  "  for  best 
short-story  effect? 

PLOT.  Notice  that  the  development  of  the  struggle 
lies  in  the  latter  half  of  the  story.  Define  this  struggle 
for  yourself.  With  whom  do  you  immediately  take 
sides?  Show  how  the  main  line  of  interest  (Onnie's 
love  for  San)  combines  with  the  second  line  of  interest 
(the  one  growing  out  of  the  struggle)  to  make  the  com- 
plication. Is  the  entanglement  logically  effected?  Give 
examples.  What  is  the  first  preparation  for  the  main 
incident?  (See  page  34.)  "  He  put  in  your  new  bath- 
tub and  Onnie  jumped  him  for  going  round  the  house 
looking  at  things."  This  statement  reveals  the  motiva- 
tion for  Percival's  dislike  of  Onnie  (whom  every  one 
else  loved)  and  rationalizes  his  insult  on  page  36 ;  it  also 
explains  how  the  villain  knew  the  arrangement  of  the 
rooms. 

The  first  developed  incident,  leading  toward  the 
climax,  covers  pages  35  and  36,  beginning  with  the  ap- 
proach of  Percival  and  ending  with  his  punishment  by 
Sanford. 

Study  the  introduction  of  the  knife  and  all  references 
to  it.  What  instruments  of  death  in  other  stories  of 
these  collections  have  plot  value? 

The  climax  of  the  action  is  told  with  fine  brevity. 
Study  the  denouement,  beginning  page  42.  "  He  sat  up, 
tearing  the  blankets  back."  The  last  paragraph  is 
marked  by  artistic  restraint.  Compare  it  with  the  end 
of  "  The  Sacrificial  Altar." 


20     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

SETTING.  How  is  the  Pennsylvania  background 
integrated  with  character  and  action  to  make  the  story? 
Over  how  many  years  does  the  entire  action  extend? 
By  what  devices  of  transition  and  by  what  proportion 
has  the  author  subdued  the  time  element? 

ATMOSPHERE.  The  latter  half  of  the  narrative 
presents  contrast  to  the  first  half,  in  spite  of  the  plot 
clues.  What  is  the  value  of  this  contrast  in  moods? 
Has  the  rain  a  contributory  value  ?  Find  other  instances 
in  these  stories  of  weather  conditions  emphasizing  the 
impression.  Point  out  all  the  instances  of  dramatic  fore- 
cast, particularly  those  which  serve  to  unify  the  earlier 
and  later  portions  of  the  narrative  (e.g.,  "And  anything 
could  happen  there,"  page  28). 


MISS  WILLETT 

THE  STARTING-POINT.  Mr.  Benefield  states  that  it 
has  been  so  long  since  he  wrote  "  Miss  Willett "  that 
the  processes  of  growth  have  gone  out  of  his  memory. 
He  is  sure,  however,  that  the  story  had  its  origin  in  a 
show-window  exhibit  on  a  street  in  New  York,  where 
a  negro  woman  of  a  most  evil  expression  used  to 
demonstrate  a  folding  bed.  "  I  probably  noted  the 
exhibit  in  a  book,  left  it  for  weeks  or  months  and  then 
one  day  when  I  needed  an  idea  I  opened  the  note-book, 
turned  over  the  pages,  stared  at  the  scribbled  note,  and 
the  elements  of  the  story  as  written  floated  to  the  center 
of  consciousness  and  joined  in  a  more  or  less  rough  but 
complete  whole.  After  that  it  was  merely  a  matter  of 
chiseling  it  into  shape." — Barry  Benefield. 

The  expression  "  floated  to  the  center  of  conscious- 
ness "  seems  to  imply  an  inspirational  writing  force, 
much  as  does  Mrs.  Pulver's  statement,  "  My  crew  will 
come  to  me  ready  named,  ready  behavioured  "  (see  page 
169). 

The  striking  relation  between  Mr.  Benefield's  original 
idea  and  his  subsequently  developed  story  is  one  of  con- 
trast. It  is  noteworthy  that  character  dominates  in 
each;  incident  is  subordinate. 

THE  DEVELOPMENT.  The  principle  of  suggestion,  by 
which  this  author  has  conveyed  more  than  he  could  ex- 
press, works  powerfully.  Observe  the  first  effect 
created  by  the  face  of  the  sculptured  Christ.  "  She 
noticed  that  the  long  white  dress  of  the  infant,"  etc. 
(page  40).  What  are  succeeding  effects? 

THE  ACTION.  Miss  Willett's  fortunes  are  in  the 
descendant  at  the  beginning  of  the  story.  Where  do 

21 


22     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

they  take  a  turn?  Is  this  dramatic  climax  motivated  by 
the  influence  of  the  face?  ("Yesterday  you  had 
nothin';  to-day  you  got  everything."  This  speech 
clinches,  for  the  reader  who  prefers  the  mystical  inter- 
pretation, the  influence  of  the  sculptured  Jesus.  To  the 
non-mystical  reader,  this  logic  alone  is  satisfactory:  loss 
of  job  had  meant  an  unconscious  spur,  the  spur  of 
desperation,  with  unanticipated  success.)  What  is  the 
sequel  to  the  day's  success  which  marks  Miss  Willett's 
continued  interest  in  the  face  behind  the  green-slatted 
window?  State  in  order  the  steps  leading  to  the  dis- 
covery. What  is  the  climax  of  action?  Does  it  con- 
stitute a  surprise  for  the  reader  as  for  Miss  Willett? 
What  is  the  denouement?  With  the  denouement,  dawns 
the  realization  of  what  underlying  theme? 

THE  MAIN  CHARACTER.  According  to  the  mystical 
interpretation  the  chief  character  is  the  sculptured  figure. 
Otherwise,  Miss  Willett  is  the  principal.  According  to 
the  two  interpretations,  the  two  become  active  and  pas- 
sive, reciprocally. 

What  is  the  fundamental  impression  you  receive  of 
Miss  Willett's  physical  person?  What,  to  a  writer,  is 
the  advantage  in  choosing  a  very  large  or  very  small 
person  as  a  main  character?  Recall  classic  examples. 
Note  all  references  to  Miss  Willett's  big  blondeness,  and 
study  the  economy  with  which  she  is  kept  before  the 
reader. 

DETAILS.  Where  is  the  gray  kitten  first  mentioned? 
What  is  the  value,  to  the  plot,  of  this  introduction? 

Glance  over  the  narrative  for  words  of  color,  light, 
and  sound.  Which  are  predominant  ?  The  effect  on  the 
story  and  on  its  verisimilitude?  Color-value  of  the  red 
geranium  with  its  single  flower?  Value  for  effect  of 
reality  ? 

Study  the  easy  manner  in  which  the  setting  is  given 
to  the  reader. 


SUPERS 

CLASSIFICATION.  A  single  scene  sketch;  it  is  like  a 
charcoal  drawing. 

PLOT.  The  plot,  concealed  beneath  the  picture,  lies 
in  the  objectifying  of  the  eternal  struggle  for  bread  and 
meat. 

SETTING.  The  place  is  the  street  near  the  theatre 
door:  like  a  magnet  it  draws  the  individual  human  be- 
ings, who  cohere  in  the  mass  until  the  attracting  power 
is  removed. 

CHARACTERS.  This  mass,  or  aggregate,  emphasizes 
the  individual  struggle,  at  the  same  time  it  engulfs  in- 
dividual personality.  What  does  the  name  "  Supers " 
indicate,  literally?  Figuratively?  What  part  does  Red 
Beard  play?  How  does  he,  too,  contribute  to  the  larger 
unity  at  the  same  time  he  offers  a  note  of  contrast? 

ATMOSPHERE.  Sordid,  drab  realism,  uncompromising 
in  its  ugliness. 


BUSTER 

OPENING  INCIDENT.  Emphasis  falls  at  once  on  the 
society  which  the  hero  disconcerts.  The  correctness  of 
living,  the  tranquil  setting,  provide  the  formal  serenity 
he  is  to  break.  "  Lucien  forgot  himself  completely," 
note  the  effect  of  the  impeccable  chauffeur's  exclamation 
as  testimony  to  the  "  demon  boy."  The  reader,  startled 
with  the  characters  into  attention,  catches  the  epithet 
up  with  interest  and  expectation. 

Are  the  recounted  escapades  and  the  antecedent  scene 
necessary?  or,  in  the  wealth  of  instance  which  follows, 
does  the  recountal  seem  extensive?  Is  the  relaxation  so 
effected  pleasant?  Does  the  rehearsal  of  the  antecedent 
episode  slow  the  tempo  and  hold  the  story  back  unneces- 
sarily? Besides  revealing  Buster,  the  material  permits 
the  cousin's  mental  distress  to  accumulate  in  effect  and 
allows  time  for  the  race  to  and  from  Boston. 

Within  the  economy  of  the  first  picture,  Buster's  man- 
ner, the  striking  factor  of  his  aspect,  and  his  adolescent 
growth  are  suggested.  Notice  that  the  following  scene 
enlarges  the  same  points.  Notice  that  in  this  scene  and 
the  others  between  Buster  and  his  aunts,  Buster  does  the 
talking.  The  aunts  interpose,  occasionally,  protest  and 
reasoning.  Do  the  scenes  lack  excitement  other  than 
Buster's  excitement?  There  is  not  the  vigorous  clash  of 
speech  with  speech ;  for  that,  the  characters  are  too  well 
mannered.  If  the  struggle  wants  intensity,  is  there  com- 
pensation in  the  naturalness  of  the  futile  boyish  tirading? 
Buster  seems  to  fume  ? 

The  trouble  at  the  bakery  serves  to  remind  the  reader 
that  Buster,  in  the  apparent  lull,  is  intent  on  his  own 

24 


BUSTER  25 

purposes.  It  serves,  also,  to  divert  the  reader's  mind 
from  the  preparation  for  the  aeroplane  incident. 

The  Bazaar  at  Dawn  Towers :  The  personnel  for  this 
scene  is  usual;  there  are  the  usual  elite  and  the  climber 
from  the  West.  (Notice  the  social  status  of  Oklahoma 
and  Montana!)  The  futurist  palace  is  a  relieving  de- 
tail. 

The  incident  caps  the  social  crimes  of  Buster;  it  pro- 
vides the  climax  for  part  one  of  the  story,  playing  off 
the  vitality  of  the  boy's  contention  against  the  vanities 
and  half-sincerity  of  his  Aunt's  set.  Like  Buster's  pas- 
sionate repetition,  '*  I've  got  to  know,"  it  is  dramatic  fore- 
cast. Here  is  the  significance  of  the  story :  youth  strug- 
gling with  convention  for  its  destiny. 

The  latter  half  of  the  story  is  fulfilment  and  realiza- 
tion. 

Does  the  timing  of  this  part — "  and  yesterday  at  dusk  " 
—  injure  the  dramatic  reality?  The  writer  suggests  this 
is  an  account,  a  diary,  a  rehearsal. 

EPISODIC  PLOT.  The  incidents  of  the  plot  do  not 
progress  logically,  as  steps  in  action  having  a  consequen- 
tial relation.  But  they  are  instances  making  the  same 
character  point,  having  this  unity.  In  the  important 
scenes  the  events  are  held  in  combination  further  by  their 
centralization  about  three  characters :  Dr.  Lake,  Miss 
Edith,  and  Buster  stand  out  at  beginning,  climax  and 
end. 

Account  for  the  animosity  against  Dr.  Lake  in  the 
boy's  tone  and  the  story  tone.  Does  the  writer  in  her 
characterization  of  him  caricature  the  doctor?  (the  em- 
phasis on  his  eminence  and  his  shirt-front  in  the  opening 
scenes,  on  his  fright  in  the  climax  scene).  Contrast  his 
appearance  in  the  two  parts  of  the  story ;  his  self-impor- 
tance in  the  earlier  scenes  with  his  eventual  sacrifice. 
The  traditions  reveal  in  the  crisis  their  underlying  sanc- 
tion. Does  his  geniality  in  the  final  scene  convince? 

Cousin  Edith,  if  typical,  is  set  apart  from  her  environ- 
ment by  a  quality  of  humor  and  by  her  angle  —  as  sym- 


26     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

pathetic  observer  of  Buster.  Observe  that  Buster  feels 
the  difference  in  her  character.  Is  there  a  note  of  af- 
fectation in  her  manner?  Notice  that,  though  she  is  in- 
fluenced by  the  aviator's  tirade,  she  is  sufficiently  her- 
self to  remark  his  manners.  Does  Buster  work  in  her 
the  magic  of  complete  conviction  ?  Is  her  wordy  "  gush  " 
when  she  first  sees  the  unconscious  boy  natural  in  tone 
and  sentiment  ?  She  sees,  remember,  the  "  death-like  " 
face,  at  the  sight  of  which  "  the  limp,  shivering  doctor 
pulled  himself  together  with  all  his  weary  might."  Her 
words  "  baby  "  the  hero  —  does  one  "  tuck  "  a  brawny 
fist  under  his  cheek? 

Buster  is  pictured  most  completely  in  his  unconscious- 
ness. Do  the  stubborn  chin  there  and  the  sulky  under- 
lip  of  the  first  scenes  indicate  an  unpleasant  willfulness? 
Offset  this  impression  by  details  in  the  summary  of  his 
escapades  which  suggest  a  sympathetic  kindness.  Does 
he  show  in  the  struggle  with  his  Aunts  a  personal  ani- 
mosity? Is  the  democracy  revealed  in  the  sailor  episode 
typical  of  his  age  ?  Compare  Aunt  Charlotte's  speech  for 
German  methods  with  the  Brigadier  General's  on  the 
making  of  the  hero.  Do  the  aviator  and  the  ambulance- 
driver  in  their  recognition  of  him  reinforce  qualities  in 
Buster  which  are  representative? 

"  Concerning  '  Buster/  he  isn't  the  portrait  of  any  real 
flesh-and-blood  boy.  But  he  tries  to  be  the  composite 
portrait  of  the  fourteen-year-olds  that  we  all  know,  and 
most  of  us  own  by  ties  of  blood, —  the  tempestuous  dar- 
ling, the  pride  and  the  despair  of  us.  As  for  the  story 
itself,  it  is  a  well-meant  but  probably  futile  attempt  to 
convince  the  Average  Parent, —  to  say  nothing  of  the 
average  Aunt  Charlotte  and  Cousin  Edith, —  that  the 
abysmal  differences  between  the  Busters  of  to-day  and 
their  own  generation  are  not  so  many  conclusive  proofs 
that  Buster  and  his  tribe  are  essentially  inferior.  On 
the  contrary !  For  to  my  eyes,  the  rising  generation  is 
a  rising  one,  with  a  vengeance,  and  o'ertops  its  predeces- 
sors with  a  disconcerting  splendor.  So  the  story  tries 


BUSTER  27 

to  make  this  conviction  clear, —  and  very  likely  fails.  For 
one  of  my  nearest  and  dearest  was  grieving  only  the  other 
day,  because  her  own  particular  Buster  insists  that  his 
life's  ambition  is  to  be  a  fire  chief.  '  When  we  want  him 
to  be  a  corporation  lawyer,  like  his  father ! '  ...  As  to 
definitions  —  could  there  be  a  compact  definition  of  the 
short-story  ?  I  doubt  it.  It's  a  universal  experience,  put 
into  a  duodecimo  edition,  but  it's  a  thousand  other  things, 
besides. 

"  Some  day,  some  one  with  authority  will  answer,  I 
hope,  this  question:  Should  the  short-story  writer  be  a 
writer  of  short-stories  and  nothing  more?  Or — should 
he  write  stories  when  and  where  he  can,  in  the  intervals  of 
other,  far  more  absorbing,  tasks  ?  " —  Katharine  Holland 
Brown. 


FOG 

GENERAL.  The  first  sentence  in  "  Fog "  serves  two 
purposes.  I.  It  thrusts  satirically  at  the  commercializ- 
ing of  the  short  story.  2.  It  induces  the  reader  to 
believe  the  inner  narrative  is  a  growth,  not  a  construc- 
tion. The  author  seems  to  have  hesitated  between  leav- 
ing the  supernatural  story  as  one  beautiful  enough  to 
stand  alone,  and  building  about  it  the  humorous  and 
even  cynical  external  action.  Or  it  may  be  that  he  saw 
best  to  set  off  the  fragile  inner  narrative  with  the  hard 
facts  of  a  workaday  world.  Without  the  prelude  to  the 
story  (which  begins  with  "  He  was  born  a  thousand 
miles  from  deep  water  ")  and  without  the  sentences  after 
the  asterisks  on  page  73,  the  narrative  recalls  "  The 
Brushwood  Boy."  And  this  is  true,  despite  the  rather 
homely  dialect.  If,  however,  the  reader  is  duly  in- 
fluenced by  the  parts  referred  to,  he  cannot  but  recall 
Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich's  "  Struggle  for  Life,"  as  a 
prototype. 
PLOT. 

Initial  Stages:  Andy  pins  up  the  ship;  his  father 
blots  it  out;  Andy  is  delirious;  acquires  name  of 
Wessel's  Andy. 

Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  Andy  drifts 
east;  seeing  a  model  of  the  Lucky  Star  in  Stiles's 
place,  he  asks  for  a  job;  he  gets  it  He  reveals 
that  he  has  had  "  a  ship  behind  his  eyes," —  a 
schooner  like  the  Lucky  Star,  and  his  knowledge 
that  he  belongs  on  board.  This  knowledge  is  at- 
tended by  a  fear:  he  does  not  know  the  cause  for 
which  he  must  go.  He  indicates  that  something 
holds  him  back  from  the  sea,  but  refuses  to  dis- 
28 


FOG  29 

close  it.  The  immediate  approach  to  the  dramatic 
climax  is  made  in  the  story  told,  to  the  fisherman 
from  Gloucester,  by  old  Jem  Haskins.  Andy  learns 
the  facts  about  Dan  and  Hope  Salisbury.  Later, 
he  asks  whether  there  is  a  picture  of  Hope  in  the 
village. 

Dramatic  Climax:  Andy  steals  into  Ed  Salis- 
bury's house  and  finds  Hope's  picture. 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:  Andy  is 
happy  now  (he  knows  why  he  must  go  aboard  the 
Lucky  Star).  He  reveals  the  other  vision  which 
has  been,  always,  back  of  his  eyes.  Hope  Salisbury 
has  the  face  of  that  vision.  It  is  clear  to  him,  now, 
that  in  going  aboard  the  vessel  he  will  meet  Hope. 
He  knows  that  the  time  is  near.  Immediately  be- 
fore the  climax  of  action,  Stiles  walks  down  the 
beach.  He  sees  a  mist,  blotting  the  blue  water  as 
it  comes.  Turning  homeward,  he  sees  Andy,  on 
the  edge  of  the  beach,  staring  into  the  fog. 

Climax  of  Action:  As  the  surf  closes  over  Andy, 
Stiles  gathers  himself  to  jump.  Then  he  sees  the 
Lucky  Star,  and  Hope.  Andy  goes  aboard.  .  .  . 

Is  the  "  inevitable  "  quality  of  the  narrative  in- 
creased by  making  Andy  "  a  queer  one "  ?  See 
Georgie,  by  way  of  contrast,  in  "  The  Brushwood 
Boy." 

Where  does  suspense  first  operate?  Where  do 
you  suspect,  first,  that  Hope  is  meant  to  be  Andy's 
bride? 

Observe  that  Andy's  last  act  might  have  been 
that  of  a  deluded  brain,  and  that  Stiles's  vision  of 
the  Lucky  Star  might  have  been  one  of  hallucination. 
The  more  imaginative  reader  will  regard  the  ghost- 
ship  as  objective,  and  will  "  believe  "  in  the  delayed 
union  of  Hope  and  Andrew. 

Read  Richard  Middleton's  "  The  Ghost  Ship,"  for 
a  frankly  humorous  treatment  of  theme.  What 


30     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

other  stories  in  Mr.  O'Brien's  collections  have  an 
element  of  the  supernatural? 

Try  presenting  this  story  in  pure  English,  from 
the  author's  point  of  view.  Use  the  objective 
method,  abstaining  from  entrance  into  the  mind  of 
any  character.  Take  up  the  narrative  at  the  point 
of  Andrew's  arrival  at  Stiles's,  and  let  his  "  queer- 
ness  "  emerge  through  his  acts  and  speeches. 

How  much  creative  work  must  you  accomplish  to 
make  a  consistent  character  of  Stiles?  (Here, 
Stiles,  the  narrator,  must  be  studied  through  the 
story  he  presents.  In  the  dramatic  presentation  of 
the  story,  he  will  become  more  objective.) 


THE  WATER-HOLE 

GENERAL  METHOD.  The  immediate  story  of  the  water- 
hole  is  unfolded  by  the  "rehearsed"  method.  What 
gain  results  from  telling  in  a  city  restaurant  an  exper- 
ience of  the  wilderness  ?  Study  the  easy  and  natural  way 
in  which  Hardy's  story  is  brought  forward.  "  You've 
got  a  concrete  instance  back  of  that "  (page  18)  signifies 
that  the  narrator  will  cite  a  case  to  prove  his  point.  Re- 
call other  stories  told  for  similar  purposes;  e.g.,  O. 
Henry's  "  The  Theory  and  the  Hound." 

Study  the  value  of  the  two  "  I  "  narrators  in  the  same 
story,  with  respect  to  increasing  verisimilitude  and  mak- 
ing the  reader  "  believe."  Kipling's  "  The  Courting  of 
Dinah  Shadd,"  for  example,  uses  the  same  tactics. 

Try  re-telling  the  story  by  the  dramatic  method.  Omit 
the  enveloping  city  setting;  transfer  Hardy  from  the  first 
to  the  third  person,  and  keep  the  "  spotlight "  on  him. 
Begin  with  the  arrival  of  Hardy  at  the  home  of  the 
Whitneys,  and  follow  the  course  of  events  to  their 
denouement.  What  do  you  lose  in  richness  and  effec- 
tiveness? Do  you  gain  anything  in  vividness  or  direct- 
ness? 

PLOT.  Having  studied  preceding  plot  analyses,  the 
student  will  find  small  difficulty  in  settling  upon  the  main 
struggle  in  the  action,  the  complicating  line  of  interest, 
and  the  climactic  incident.  The  surprise  ending,  how- 
ever, calls  for  comment,  in  that  to  achieve  it  the  author 
used  a  natural  and  yet  somewhat  novel  device.  Hardy 
has  been  speaking  of  himself,  of  course,  in  the  first  per- 
son. When,  therefore,  he  refers  to  the  love  that  "  one 
of  the  young  engineers  "  had  for  Mrs.  Whitney  we  do 
not  suppose  that  he  and  the  engineer  were  identical. 


32     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

Hence,  we  receive  the  shock  in  the  final  paragraph: 
"  On  the  brown  flesh  of  his  forearm,  I  saw  a  queer, 
ragged  white  cross  —  the  scar  a  snake  bite  leaves  when 
it  is  cicatrized."  On  reflection,  one  recognizes  that 
Whitney's  slight  deception  arose  from  motives  of 
delicacy,  and  is  more  than  justifiable  —  it  pleases,  in 
that  it  refines  Hardy's  character.  Deception  as  a  means, 
in  general,  to  create  surprise  is  common  (See  "The 
Mastery  of  Surprise,"  Bookman,  October,  1917)  ;  but 
it  is  given  here  a  particularly  excellent  turn. 

Observe,  also,  that  the  plot  presents  a  variation  of 
the  familiar  "  triangle."  The  love  story,  however,  is 
buried  beneath  the  greater  theme ;  and  therefore,  although 
it  terminates  in  a  lack  of  so-called  poetic  justice,  yet  its 
combination  with  the  main  line  of  interest  gives  utmost 
satisfaction. 

CHARACTERS.  Mr.  Burt  has  employed  a  favorite 
artistic  aid,  contrast,  in  depicting  Hardy  and  Whitney. 
Does  Hardy  seem  anywhere  too  modest  or  too  egotistic 
for  the  first  person  narrator?  What  value  have  the 
friends  who  hear  Hardy's  story  in  the  full  develop- 
ment of  Hardy  as  a  character? 


A  CUP  OF  TEA 

SETTING.  Note  the  setting  of  this  and  "  The  Water- 
Hole,"  "The  Knight's  Move,"  "The .Weaver  Who  Clad 
the  Summer,"  "  A  Certain  Rich  Man."  In  which  of 
them  is  the  outer  setting  a  place  for  the  rehearsal  of 
the  story  which  follows?  In  which  is  the  setting  that 
of  the  immediate  story-action?  What  is  the  general 
value  of  a  table  scene  to  the  writer  who  wishes  to  present 
his  story  in  the  "rehearsed"  manner?  How  does  a 
camp-fire  compare  with  it?  (Read,  for  example,  Kip- 
ling's "The  Courting  of  Dinah  Shadd.") 

INTRODUCTION,  WITH  EMPHASIS  ON  CHARACTERS. 
Why  is  so  long  an  introductory  paragraph  given  to 
Burnaby  ? 

Study  the  comment  on  guests  and  hostess,  and  observe 
that  the  English  financier  must  have  an  important  part 
in  the  ensuing  action.  "  Sir  John  had  inherited  an 
imagination."  Is  this  stated  characteristic  proved  by 
subsequent  disclosures  ? 

How  is  Burnaby's  entrance  emphasized? 

"  She  was  interested  by  now  "  (page  48),  an  old  device 
and  an  excellent  one  for  catching  the  reader's  attention. 
The  logic  is  this :  "If  that  fascinating  lady  is  in- 
terested, there  must  be  a  reason."  Sir  Conan  Doyle  em- 
ploys it  often  in  the  Sherlock  Holmes  stories,  when 
Sherlock  asks  for  a  repetition  of  a  situation  supposedly 
just  presented.  It  is  thus  put  before  the  reader  who 
assumes  that  it  must  be  worth  hearing  once,  if  Sherlock 
will  hear  it  twice. 

What  reason  exists  for  Burnaby's  story  as  a  pre- 
decessor to  Sir  John's?  Does  it  motivate  the  telling  of 
Sir  John's?  If  so,  does  it  also  prejudice  the  reader  in 

33 


34     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

favor  of  one  or  the  other  men?  Does  it  incite  curiosity 
as  to  the  squawman  with  a  promise  that  curiosity  will 
be  satisfied?  Suppose  that  some  other  cause  produced 
Sir  John's  story  and  the  reader  were  left  to  surmise 
what  became  of  Bewsher.  Would  sympathy  be  with 
Bewsher  in  an  increased  or  diminished  degree? 

Why  is  Burnaby's  story  briefer  than  Sir  John's? 
Would  it  be  possible  to  reverse  the  comparative  lengths 
with  a  new  story-value?  Try  telling  Bewsher's  story 
as  he  might  tell  it  to  Burnaby  at  the  time  of  the  tea  in- 
cident. 

How  is  point  given  to  the  squaw  man's  name  ?  What 
is  the  significance  of  the  broken  champagne  glass? 
Have  literary  artists  often  fallen  back  on  a  broken  glass 
by  way  of  expressing  emotion?  Is  it  true  to  real  life? 
Does  it  seem  true  in  fiction  ? 

Is  there  sufficient  suggestion  that  Bewsher's  story  is 
connected  with  that  of  Masters  to  justify  initial  interest 
in  Sir  John's  narrative?  (See  the  denouement  of 
Burnaby's.) 

Where  did  you  receive  a  hint  that  Masters  is  identify- 
ing himself  with  Morton? 

THE  HEART  OF  THE  WHOLE  STORY:  MASTERS' 
STORY.  Notice  that  Mr.  Burt  recognizes,  as  all  artists 
do,  the  various  climaxes  of  the  narrative.  This  is  in- 
dicated in  what  Sir  John  calls  "  high  lights." 

The  Initial  Impulse  (The  "first  high  light"): 
Morton's  plan  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of 
Bewsher. 

Steps  toward  Dramatic  Climax:  The  importance 
of  himself  comes  home  to  Morton  ("  The  second 
high  light  ").  "  The  third  did  not  come  until  fifteen 
years  later"  (Bewsher  has  been  in  India;  Morton, 
in  a  Banking  House  in  London)  :  Morton  desires 
a  wife,  luxury,  and  social  standing.  Bewsher  turns 
up;  he  and  Morton  fall  in  love  with  the  same  girl. 
Bewsher  leads,  but  he  needs  money.  The  "  third 
high  light,"  then,  after  fifteen  years,  is  Bewsher's 


A  CUP  OF  TEA  35 

supplication.  Morton  makes  him  a  rich  man,  but 
does  not  promise  to  keep  him  so. 

Dramatic  Climax:  Bewsher  forges  a  check,  and 
hands  it  to  Morton  in  part  payment  of  his  indebt- 
edness. Morton  subsequently  shows  the  check  to 
the  girl  and  then  burns  it  before  her  eyes.  He  thus 
wins  her,  not  aware  that  her  heart  is  broken. 
Bewsher  disappears. 

Climax  of  Action:  "The  fourth  high  light" 
Morton  marries  the  girl. 

Denouement:  He  suffers  the  realization  that  he 
can  never  be  a  gentleman;  he  has  learned  that  the 
girl  does  not  love  him. 

What  statement  of  Sir  John  indicates  a  recogni- 
tion of  the  turning  point  in  the  rivalry  between  him 
and  Bewsher?  Show  that  this  outer  or  external 
dramatic  climax  is  the  counterpart  of  the  "  third 
high  light." 

Denouement  of  the  Enveloping  Narrative:  After 
Sir  John  and  his  wife  motor  away,  Burnaby  ex- 
plains the  relations  between  the  real  and  the  fictive 
characters.  What  is  the  significance  of  his  appella- 
tion, "timber-wolf"? 

What  is  the  office  of  Mrs.  Malcolm's  closing  re- 
mark? 

"  We  are  told  that  all  writing  is  a  process  of  elision, 
but  no  one  seems  to  go  further  and  say  that  short-story 
writing  is  the  process  of  *  hitting  the  high  spots '  plus  the 
art  of  making  the  intervals  between  the  '  high  spots ' 
not  only  interesting  but  of  such  a  quality  that  the  '  high 
spots '  do  not  seem  strained  and  unnatural.  I  find  that 
this  is  mostly  done  by  the  turn  of  a  sentence,  or  by  an 
apparently  adventitious  aphorism,  or  a  paragraph  of 
general  comment. 

"  I  do  prefer  the  *  I '  narrator  greatly,  ist.  It  does 
away  with  the  '  Smart  Alec/  omniscient  atmosphere  of 
the  third  person,  which  seems  to  me  the  bane  of  most 


36     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

American  short-stories  —  the  author  gives  an  impres- 
sion of  groping  for  his  story,  just  as  a  person  in  real 
life  gropes  when  he  narrates  an  incident.  Conrad  does 
this,  and  does  it  so  beautifully.  It  seems  to  me  that  a 
'  thickness '  is  achieved  that  can  be  got  in  no  other  way. 
This,  of  course,  does  not  apply  to  a  novel,  because  in  a 
novel  the  '  thickness '  is  achieved  by  mere  length. 

"  Secondly,  as  you  say,  it  enables  one  to  handle  sur- 
prise more  readily. 

"  Thirdly,  the  story  can  be  told  in  colloquial  language, 
and  not  in  literary  language,  which  makes  it,  so  it  seems 
to  me,  more  poignant.  What  experience  I  have  had  con- 
vinces me  that  the  poignancy  of  life  is  invariably  ex- 
pressed by  silences  and  by  broken  words.  The  French 
know  so  well  how  to  use  dashes,  for  instance. 

"  Fourthly,  and  this  is  not  paradoxical,  despite  the 
colloquial  language,  one  has  a  slight  feeling  of  aloofness 
from  the  characters  or  sees  them  through  the  medium  of 
a  third  person;  and  this,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  way  one 
sees  things  in  real  life.  .  .  . 

"  The  story  ordinarily  comes  to  me  as  an  incident  or  a 
theme,  sometimes  as  a  character  in  a  certain  incident. 
Then  usually  nothing  happens  for  a  long  time.  If  I  try 
to  think  about  it  too  much,  so  much  the  worse.  In  about 
a  month,  I'll  think  about  it  again  and  then,  as  a  rule,  it 
begins  to  evolve.  A  great  deal  of  the  incident  occurs  to 
me  while  I  am  actually  writing." — Maxwell  Struthers 
Burt. 


MA'S  PRETTIES 

GENERAL.  "  Realism  isn't  popular  —  is  it  ?  "  Half 
assertively  this  inquiry  comes  from  a  certain  fiction 
writer.  It  is,  perhaps,  in  proportion  as  the  story  has 
obvious  significance.  This  sketch  about  "  Ma's  Pretties  " 
reflects  in  miniature  the  whole  of  an  American  com- 
munity, but  in  a  manner  which  escapes  him  who  seeks 
and  appreciates  only  surface  values.  It  is  the  kind  of 
writing  which  acquires  relative  importance  when  placed 
alongside  examples  which  reflect  other  communities, 
other  nationalities. 

The  narrative  is  not  a  short-story,  in  the  technical 
sense.  Mr.  Buzzell  feels  this  to  be  no  adverse  criticism, 
since  he  says  himself,  "  I  am  not  particularly  con- 
cerned about  the  short-story  as  such.  I  am  using  a 
short  narrative  form  as  a  means  of  expression  simply 
because  this  form  seems  the  most  natural  to  me.  There 
are  many  things  which  I  wish  to  record  from  my  own 
particular  slant.  It  is  to  accomplish  this,  rather  than  to 
produce  short-stories,  that  I  am  writing.  Naturally, 
then,  I  am  not  particularly  concerned  with  the  technique 
of  the  short-story,  but  on  the  other  hand  I  am  very 
much  concerned  with  the  technique  of  effective  writing 
and  have  spent  several  years  of  hard  work  trying  to 
perfect  my  craftsmanship." 

CLASSIFICATION.  A  realistic  sketch,  with  emphasis  on 
the  situation :  Mrs.  Brooks  dies ;  her  "  pretties  "  are 
divided. 

THE  CHARACTERS.  What  is  the  chief  method  of  the 
author  for  revealing  character?  How  is  the  character 
of  the  dead  woman  indicated  ?  What  can  you  say  of  the 

37 


38     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

dialogue  by  way  of  indicating  feeling  over  (i)  "  Ma's  " 
illness,  (2)  her  death?  Describe  the  daughters. 

THE  MAIN  SCENE.  Is  the  story  aptly  entitled  with 
respect  to  the  main  incident?  What  universal  theme  is 
struck  in  this  well-developed  scene  between  the  girls  in 
"Ma's"  room? 

"  The  things  enumerated  in  *  Ma's  Pretties '  as  found 
in  her  clothespress  were  part  of  the  things  my  mother 
found  in  my  grandmother's  clothespress  after  the  latter's 
death.  I  had  to  reject  many  items  of  course,  and  re- 
arrange those  which  I  selected  as  typical.  You  may  be 
sure  I  spent  a  couple  of  weeks  of  hard  work  before  I 
was  satisfied  with  this  piece  of  writing." — Francis 
Buzzell. 

SUBORDINATE  SCENES.  Which  scene  do  you  regard 
as  second  in  importance? 

"  The  building  up  of  the  scene  in  which  Ben  Brooks 
carries  the  earrings  in  to  '  Ma '  was  also  a  bit  of  con- 
scious technique.  I  worked  on  that  paragraph  many 
hours  before  I  was  satisfied  with  the  names  of  the  flowers 
and  had  my  tonal  values  right." —  Francis  Buzzell. 

Compare  this  story  with  Donn  Byrne's  "  The  Wake." 
Apart  from  the  narrative  element,  do  you  receive  a  de- 
cided impression  of  national  contrast? 

Study  the  list  of  "  pretties,"  as  you  studied  the  list 
of  objects,  etc.,  in  Miss  Babcock's  "  The  Excursion." 
Try  to  discover,  here  as  there,  their  value  in  the  reflec- 
tion of  reality.  Certain  small  objects  connote  what 
larger  objects?  "Ma's"  switch,  for  example?  Apply 
this  question  to  your  consideration  of  each  detail.  Have 
these  apparently  insignificant  details  a  value  similar  to 
that  of  synecdoche  and  metonymy? 


LONELY  PLACES 

GENERAL.  A  technically  well-wrought  piece  of  real- 
ism, both  in  its  adherence  to  the  point  of  view,  and  in 
the  rationalization  of  events.  When  it  was  first  pub- 
lished, it  bore  the  (editorial)  sub-title,  "  A  Story  of 
Woman's  Inhumanity  to  Woman."  "  I  assure  you," 
says  Mr.  Buzzell,  "  that  woman's  inhumanity  to  woman 
never  entered  my  mind  in  writing  this  story.  If  readers 
find  a  moral  in  any  of  my  stories  they  can  have  it  with- 
out question ;  I  didn't  put  it  there  and  I'll  lay  no  claim 
to  it."  What  does  this  statement  indicate  with  regard 
to  Mr.  Buzzell's  ideas  of  art? 

STARTING  POINT,  AND  DEVELOPMENT.  "  The  begin- 
ning of  a  poem,  I  assume  from  my  own  experience,  is 
a  mood,  a  state  of  feeling,  in  the  poet.  He  is  stirred  by 
something  and  sets  to  work  to  express  it.  Well,  then, 
this  is  the  way  a  story  begins  in  me.  As  a  result,  the 
first  tangible  thing  I  have  is  the  atmosphere.  ...  I  re- 
membered that  there  were  in  Almont  (Romeo)  a  number 
of  '  grand '  houses,  standing  far  back  from  the  road,  and 
occupied  by  lonely  women.  I  saw  these  houses  buried 
in  trees  in  summer,  smelled  the  wild  honeysuckle, 
watched  the  wrens  flying  in  and  out  of  the  old  teapots 
hung  in  the  vines  of  the  dining-room  porch.  In  the 
winter  I  saw  these  houses  buried  in  snow." 

Mr.  Buzzell  then  wondered  why  these  women  had 
never  married  and  concluded  that  all  the  young  men  of 
their  generation  had  gone  to  the  city  to  work. 

"  The  next  step  was  to  select  a  definite  setting.  For 
this  I  took  an  old  house  which  I  knew  thoroughly  —  my 
Grandfather's  house  —  the  Orin  Crisman  house  in 
*  Addie  Erb  and  her  Girl  Lottie/  In  this  house  I  placed 

39 


40     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

a  woman  not  quite  forty  years  old  and  I  named  her 
Abbie  Snover.  Then  I  gave  her  Old  Chris  as  a  com- 
panion. I  had  reason  for  placing  Old  Chris  in  the  house 
with  Abbie  aside  from  an  actual  plot  requirement.  I 
placed  him  there  because  I  wanted  to  impress  my  reader 
in  the  beginning  with  the  loneliness  of  Abbie  Snover's 
environment  rather  than  with  her  utter  lack  of  com- 
panionship. The  actual  beginning  of  plot,  I  think,  was 
when  I  decided  to  take  Old  Chris  away  from  her  at  the 
end,  so  as  to  accentuate  her  loneliness.  In  searching  for 
a  cause  that  would  remove  the  old  man  I  decided  to 
resort  to  gossip.  The  next  question  was  how  to  start 
the  gossip.  It  seemed  most  natural  to  have  the  children 
begin  it.  But  how  start  the  children?  Abbie  Snover 
and  Old  Chris  had  lived  alone  in  that  big  house  for 
fifteen  years  without  any  gossip;  something  would  have 
to  happen  to  start  it.  So  I  decided  that  Abbie  would 
have  to  antagonize  the  children  in  some  way.  To  be 
able  to  antagonize  the  children  would  necessarily  require 
some  kind  of  personal  contact  with  them,  so  I  had  the 
children  form  a  habit  of  going  to  her  door  after  cookies. 
Then  I  invented  the  orange  tree  to  give  Abbie  a  reason 
for  driving  them  out  of  the  house. 

*'  The  rest  was  simple  until  I  sent  Abbie  out  of  the  big 
house  on  her  journey  to  Mile  Corners.  It  wasn't  until 
I  reached  this  point  that  I  decided  to  let  the  reader 
know  that  Old  Chris  was  dead;  that  Abbie's  journey 
through  the  snow  was  to  be  a  fruitless  one;  that  fate 
had  robbed  her  of  her  victory.  If  I  had  been  concerned 
with  writing  just  a  short  story  I  would  have  given  my 
readers  the  desired  surprise  by  withholding  Old  Chris's 
death  from  them  until  Abbie  found  it  out.  What  I 
wanted  to  do  was  to  make  them  feel  Abbie's  tragedy 
every  step  of  the  way  along  that  country  road." 

The  difference  between  the  realist's  and  the  romanti- 
cist's methods  may  be  seen  by  a  consideration  of  what 
a  romanticist  would  have  done  at  any  stage  of  the 
action.  For  example,  Abbie's  kindness  to  the  children 


LONELY  PLACES  41 

would  have  been  the  cause,  not  of  her  undoing,  but 
rather  (under  other  circumstances)  of  her  rehabilita- 
tion. The  business  of  the  orange-tree,  again,  might  have 
been  used  to  turn  the  youngsters  against  her,  as  Mr. 
Buzzell  has  used  it,  but  in  this  event  then  the  sender  of 
the  orange  tree  would  have  arrived  on  the  scene  and 
by  his  masterfulness  properly  subdued  the  gossip.  .  .  . 
Again,  the  romanticist  would  have  saved  the  surprise, 
undoubtedly,  for  the  reader  as  well  as  for  Abbie.  He 
would  have  desired  to  create  the  shock,  and  leave  re- 
flection to  each  reader. 

Try  telling  the  story  from  Mrs.  Perry's  angle. 

What  is  the  struggle?  Is  it  active  or  passive,  or  does 
it  pass  from  one  to  the  other  condition?  Are  the  stages 
of  the  plot  well-marked,  from  initial  impulse  to  climax 
of  action? 

What  is  the  atmosphere?  What  details  of  setting, 
character,  and  action  harmonize  in  the  totality  of  effect? 
What  notes  of  contrast  but  serve  to  intensify  the  pre- 
vailing mood? 

Has  the  author  attempted  to  enlist  the  reader's 
sympathy  for  Abbie?  Is  his  work  finer  and  truer,  as  a 
result  ? 


THE  WAKE 

GENERAL.  "  The  Wake  "  suggests  and  pictures  the 
customs  of  the  Irish  following  a  death;  at  the  same 
time  it  tells  a  story.  For  this  latter  reason  it  is  superior, 
as  a  narrative,  to  "  Supers,"  which  emphasizes  the 
picture,  the  condition.  Emphasis  is  placed  on  the  situa- 
tion, with  a  gradual  heightening  of  interest  as  to  a  sug- 
gested outcome.  The  young  wife  of  an  elderly  husband 
lies  dead;  she  has  loved  and  been  loved  by  a  younger 
man;  the  younger  man  (Kennedy)  has  declared,  "If 
anything  ever  happens  to  that  girl  at  your  side,  Michael 
James,  I'll  murder  you ! "  And  now  as  Michael  sits  in 
dumb  misery,  he  awaits  the  fulfillment  of  the  threat. 
The  passive  situation  is  merged  into  the  dramatic 
moment  by  the  advent  of  Kennedy,  who  seeing  the  dead 
woman,  foregoes  his  intention. 

SETTING.  The  locale,  according  to  Mr.  Byrne,  is 
Ulster,  North  Ireland.  What  is  the  length  of  the  ac- 
tion? 

GERMINAL  IDEA.  "  I  wished  to  write  a  story  of  an 
Irish  wake  which  was  neither  utterly  sordid,  nor  in- 
delicately funny."  Is  the  resultant  mood,  atmosphere, 
in  harmony  with  this  intention? 

THE  ACTION.  Where  is  your  interest  first  aroused? 
At  what  point  does  the  principle  of  suspense  operate  to 
intensify  interest?  Is  the  denouement  satisfactory? 
Is  the  action  that  of  a  "  triangle  "  story  ?  Compare  it, 
in  this  regard,  with  the  action  of  "The  Water-Hole." 
How  is  the  love  interest  submerged  in  "  The  Wake  "  ? 
How  is  the  hostility  Kennedy  bears  James  overcome? 
What  bearing  on  the  action  and  on  the  theme  has  the 
blind  misery  of  James? 

42 


THE  WAKE  43 

THE  CHARACTERS.  From  whose  point  of  view  is  the 
story  presented?  Who  is  the  main  character  and  why? 
Is  there  in  any  way  a  suggestion  that  Death,  as  a 
character,  controls?  Or  is  the  influence  of  the  dead 
woman  dominant? 

THE  THEME.  In  stating  the  theme,  refer  to  the 
germinal  idea  and  comment  on  the  author's  success. 

Compare  with  this  narrative,  Chapter  IX  of  Patrick 
MacGill's  "  The  Rat-Pit."  Mr.  MacGill's  setting  is  also 
in  Ulster:  Donegal. 

It  should  be  added  for  the  benefit  of  the  student  who 
resents,  or  finds  hampering,  an  insistence  on  short-story 
type,  that  Mr.  Donn  Byrne  believes  there  isn't  any  such 
thing  as  the  short-story.  "  A  story  is  a  story  whether 
it's  a  novel  of  100,000  words  or  a  short  magazine  affair. 
There  is  no  difference  in  technic  between  a  4,000  word 
writing,  like  'The  Wake'  and  any  of  my  big  15,000 
worders  — '  Sargasso  Sea/  for  example,  or  '  A  Treasure 
upon  Earth.'  Get  a  worth  while  idea  and  make  your 
narrative  interesting.  That's  the  only  formula  for  any 
piece  of  fiction.  The  short-story  is  to  the  novel  what 
the  chip  mashie  shot  is  to  the  full  St.  Andrew  Swing, 
the  same  identical  stroke  used  effectively  for  shorter 
distance." 

Bring  arguments  to  bear  for  or  against  Mr.  Donn 
Byrne's  statement.  Be  sure  you  have  read  widely  be- 
fore drawing  conclusions,  and  have  studied  the  technique 
of  the  stories  and  novels  read. 


THE  GREAT  AUK 

SETTING.  The  locale  is  New  York  City;  the  most 
important  scene,  in  the  Scudder  Theater.  The  time  is 
the  present. 

One  of  Irvin  Cobb's  most  remarkable  powers  is  that  of 
picturing  so  vividly  a  setting  that  the  reader  cannot  but 
read  and  cannot  but  remember.  What  is  the  explana- 
tion of  this  astonishing  success?  First  of  all,  Mr.  Cobb 
is  a  keen  observer.  When  he  is  out  with  his  wife, 
according  to  her  he  sees  ten  times  more  than  she  does, 
yet  she  thinks  she  is  seeing  all  there  is  to  see.  "  When 
he  was  writing  '  The  County  Trot '  Mrs.  Cobb  marveled 
at  his  life-like  pictures  of  the  Kentucky  characters,  all 
of  whom  he  had  really  known.  She  asked  him  how  it 
was  possible  for  him  to  remember  their  faces  and 
mannerisms  after  the  lapse  of  so  many  years.  He  said: 
*  Why,  I  can  close  my  eyes  and  see  the  knotholes  that 
were  in  the  fence  around  that  fairground.' "  This 
quotation  indicates  a  second  requisite1 — accurate 
memory.  The  third  requisite  is  hard  work,  a  condition 
through  which  Mr.  Cobb  believes  all  success  must  come. 
"  When  writing  a  story  his  object  is  to  draw  sharp  pic- 
tures that  will  never  leave  the  reader.  To  do  this,  he 
thinks  out  the  minutest  details  of  that  picture,  not  that 
he  will  use  those  details,  but  that  he  himself  may  really 
see  the  picture  as  he  writes."  The  fact  that  he  will  not 
"  use  all  those  details  "  which  observation  and  memory 
have  supplied  means  that  he  has  the  ability  to  select. 
And,  finally,  he  knows  how  to  handle  an  ample  vocabu- 
lary. 

PLOT. 

Initial  Impulse:    The  need  for  a  "grandfather" 
motivates   the   search   of   Verba  and   Offutt.     (A 
44 


THE  GREAT  AUK  45 

search,  a  type  of  "  chase,"  serves  fcr  a  strong  story- 
backbone.) 

Steps  to  the  Dramatic  Climax:  I.  The  cab-ride 
to  Bateman's  old  haunts.  2.  Finding  the  Scudder 
theatre  closed.  3.  The  visit  to  the  wine-shop ;  the 
clerk's  account  of  Bateman.  4.  The  ragged  boy 
volunteers  information.  5.  He  leads  them  to  the 
side  entrance  of  the  theatre,  into  the  gloom  and 
decay  of  which  they  make  their' way. 

Dramatic  Climax:  The  urchin  whistles;  the 
curtain  rolls  up;  old  Bateman  appears.  The  search 
is  now  at  an  end.  Bateman  is  found.  The  new 
cause  of  suspense  lies  in  curiosity  over  ensuing 
events.  To  satisfy  this  curiosity,  the  author  ex- 
tends the  dramatic  climax  moment.  The  whole 
scene  at  the  theatre  is  a  prolonged  climax,  gradually 
revealing  the  old  man's  unfitness,  even  as  it  soars 
to  a  higher  emotional  climax.  The  story  structure 
may  be  roughly  indicated  by  the  diagram: 

0     »•     " 


B 


That  is,  if  M  represents  the  dramatic  climax 
moment,  then  MS  represents  the  dramatic  climax 
scene,  which  is  the  period  of  Bateman's  acting  three 
parts.  With  S,  comes  the  realization  that  Bate- 
man is  not  in  his  "  perfect  mind."  Notice  the 
impeccable  workmanship  by  which  this  recognition 
is  forced  home  to  Verba  in  the  last  speech  of  Bate- 
man, the  lines  from  "  King  Lear."  SZ  is  the  brief 


46     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

drop  to  the  climax  of  action.     See  the  story  for 
details. 

Climax  of  Action:    The  two  men  leave  Bateman 
taking  his  curtain  call. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Why  are  the  insignificant  actors 
and  actresses  mentioned  in  the  introduction?  What  is 
the  particular  literary  value  of  Grainger?  What  out- 
standing characteristics  has  Bateman  which  none  of  the 
others  possess?  What  value  has  the  title  in  connection 
with  the  characters  as  a  group  ? 

How  has  Mr.  Cobb  individualized  Verba  and  Offutt? 
To  which  means  of  characterization  is  he  most  partial  — 
author's  description,  the  character's  own  acts  and 
speeches,  or  what  others  think  and  say  of  him? 

Of  the  urchin  who  piloted  the  searchers,  what  is  the 
first  detail  you  recall?  What  other  characters  of  Mr. 
Cobb  do  you  remember  from  some  physical  peculiarity 
which  he  has  emphasized? 

Bateman  is  first  presented  to  the  reader  through  the 
opinion  of  Verba.  Next,  he  is  shown  through  the  wine- 
shop clerk  (who  gives  the  effective  clue  as  to  Bateman's 
"  dippiness  ").  Then,  the  ragged  urchin  volunteers  his 
contribution.  What  prepossessing  characteristic  does 
the  reader  receive  from  him?  Finally,  the  actor  speaks 
for  himself.  One  part  would  be  insufficient ;  it  would 
be  "  too  easy  " ;  therefore  by  the  cumulative  method  Mr. 
Cobb  lets  the  old  man  show  beyond  a  doubt  that  he  is 
not  a  type,  but  an  actor.  Dundreary,  the  Frenchman 
and  King  Lear  require  varied  ability. 

Notice  that  what  the  character  does  is  the  climactic 
portrayal  —  not  what  others  say  about  him  or  what  the 
author  might  portray. 

DETAILS.  Point  out  the  clues  to  Bateman's  insanity. 
Study  Mr.  Cobb's  figures  of  speech.  He  frequently 
uses  the  human  body  as  a  basis  for  comparison  (see, 
for  example,  page  85 :  "  Its  stucco  facings,  shining 
dimly  like  a  row  of  teeth  .  .  ."  and  page  97 :  "  the 


THE  GREAT  AUK  47 

mouth  of  the  place  was  muzzled  with  iron,  like  an 
Elizabethan  shrew's  ").  Why  is  such  a  basis  conducive 
to  vividness  for  everybody? 

What  is  the  acting  time  of  the  story? 

What  is  the  significance  of  the  contrast  between  the 
modern  play,  as  represented  in  the  selections  (pages  88 
and  89),  and  the  masterpieces  suggested  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  story. 

Irvin  Cobb  never  writes  a  story  until  he  has  worked  it 
over  in  his  own  mind  for  a  couple  of  months.  At  the 
same  time,  a  hundred  new  ideas  are  developing ;  and  as  he 
himself  says  he  will  not  live  long  enough  to  write  all  his 
stories.  A  year  before  he  wrote  "  The  Belled  Buzzard  " 
he  was  visiting  with  Mrs.  Cobb  at  her  old  home  in 
Georgia.  They  were  sitting  on  a  front  porch  one  morn- 
ing when  a  huge  buzzard  flew  past.  Mr.  Cobb  recalled 
a  Southern  story  about  a  belled  buzzardy  and  remarked 
that  he  guessed  he  would  weave  a  plot  round  it.  Just 
one  year  later,  he  finished  the  developing  and  wrote  the 
story. 


BOYS  WILL  BE  BOYS 

SETTING.     A  town   in   Kentucky,   with  emphasis  on 
Judge    Priest's   office    and   the    court-room.     Time:     in 
recent  years,  not  the  immediate  present. 
PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:  Judge  Priest  sends  for  Peep 
O'Day  and  informs  him  that  he  has  inherited  eight 
thousand  pounds  sterling. 

Steps  to  the  Dramatic  Climax:  Peep  takes  a 
silver  dollar  in  advance  from  the  Judge;  he  invests 
it  in  fruit,  cake,  and  candy.  He  invites  the  boys  to 
eat  with  him.  The  news  of  his  fortune  spreads, 
and  eventually  reaches  Percy  Dwyer  in  the  work- 
house at  Evansville,  Indiana  (this  is  the  hint  at 
an  opposing  force,  the  first  suggestion  of  a  struggle). 
O'Day  begins  to  "  betray  the  vagaries  of  a  dis- 
ordered intellect."  He  buys  a  child's  wagon,  soda- 
pop,  etc.  With  the  youngsters  he  spends  a  day  in 
Bradshaw's  woods,  playing  games.  The  day  and 
his  behavior  are  repeated. 

Dramatic  Climax:  The  apogee  "  came  at  the  end 
of  two  months."  It  consists  of  three  definite  things : 

a.  The  arrival  of  the  legacy, 

b.  The  arrival  of  the  one-ring  circus, 

c.  The  arrival  of  Nephew  Dwyer. 

Steps  to  the  Climax  of  Action:  Peep  invests  two 
hundred  dollars  and  takes  the  youngsters  to  the 
circus.  His  nephew  greets  him  at  night;  O'Day 
bids  him  a  quick  good-bye.  The  nephew  goes  to 
an  attorney.  Sublette  addresses  a  petition  to  the 
Circuit  Judge  setting  forth  that  O'Day  is  of  unsound 
mind  and  that  his  nephew  prays  for  the  appoint- 
48 


BOYS  WILL  BE  BOYS  49 

ment  of  a  curator  over  the  estate.  Judge  Priest 
comes  back  from  Reel  foot  Lake.  He  talks  with 
O'Day,  and  says  that  he  may  tell  on  the  witness 
stand  why  he  has  spent  the  money  as  he  has. 

Climax  of  Action:  Pages  120-124.  O'Day's 
speech.  The  climax  of  action  is  extended  here,  as 
was  the  dramatic  climax  in  "  The  Great  Auk." 

Denouement:  Judge  Priest  declares  that  the 
Court  is  advised  as  to  O'Day's  sanity ;  the  youngsters 
applaud;  the  elders  join  in  the  applause;  O'Day  is, 
according  to  the  Judge,  "  the  sanest  man  in  this  en- 
tire jurisdiction."  Court  is  adjourned.  The  Judge 
lingers  to  make  a  suggestion  to  the  sheriff. 

Anti-Climax,  and  Close  of  the  Narrative:  Peep 
brings  to  Judge  Priest  a  present  of  all-day  suckers. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Judge  Priest,  who  appears  in 
many  of  Mr.  Cobb's  stories,  is  one  of  numerous  types  the 
author  knew  when  he  was  a  Paducah  reporter.  The 
student  should  study  him  as  an  example  destined  to 
literary  permanence.  In  the  opinion  of  the  present 
critic  he  is  the  most  representative  figure  in  all  the  cur- 
rent literature  about  the  South.  No  Southerner  can  fail 
to  recognize  the  gentleman. 

In  this  particular  story  how  is  the  Judge  described 
by  the  author?  How  does  his  mail  help  to  characterize 
him?  How  does  his  behavior  reveal  him?  For  what 
qualities  do  you  like  him  at  first?  For  what  through- 
out? (See  especially  pages  95,  117,  126.)  For  what, 
finally  ? 

Study  the  description  of  O'Day.  Study  page  94  for 
the  way  Mr.  Cobb  makes  O'Day  appeal  to  the  reader's 
sympathy.  What  in  his  past  history  has  contributory 
value  to  the  present  picture  and  present  plot?  What 
in  his  environment?  What  do  the  townspeople  think  of 
him  ?  What  exceptions  are  there  ?  What  is  his  attitude 
to  others?  Study  his  behavior  in  connection  with  the 
reception  of  news  about  his  fortune,  his  subsequent  acts, 


50     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

and  his  speech  in  the  court-room.  Why  is  his  story  of 
his  early  life  of  particular  worth  here?  Note  all  the 
reasons  for  which  you  sympathize  with  him.  Wherein, 
in  brief,  lies  the  human  appeal  of  the  story? 

How  are  the  minor  characters  hit  off  as  individuals? 
How  are  they  repressed  so  as  not  to  usurp  too  much  of 
the  reader's  attention? 

DETAILS.  Study  the  easy  way  in  which  the  locality  is 
kept  before  the  reader.  For  example,  the  business  about 
the  water-melons  is  essentially  Southern. 

From  reading  "  The  Great  Auk "  what  would  you 
judge  to  have  been  one  of  Mr.  Cobb's  chief  interests? 
What  from  reading  "  Boys  Will  Be  Boys  "? 

Point  out  examples  of  this  author's  humor. 

What  value  has  the  fact  (page  87)  that  the  Court  of 
Appeals  had  affirmed  a  decision  of  the  Judge? 

What  effects  arise  from  the  statement  that  Peep  wore 
a  four  dollar  suit? 

What  forecast  lies  in  O'Day's  admission  of  kinship  to 
Dwyer?  (Page  91.) 

How  has  the  author  handled  suspense  in  the  first  in- 
cident—  the  scene  between  the  Judge  and  O'Day? 
Where  does  he  satisfy  curiosity?  Is  this,  then,  a  minor 
climax  of  interest? 

What  reaction  on  the  reader  has  O'Day's  statement, 
"  I  can't  neither  read  nor  write  "  ? 

Note  on  page  100  the  first  indication  that  Peep's  sanity 
may  be  suspected  (Speech  of  Mr.  Quarles).  This  ques- 
tion of  his  sanity  joins  Dwyer's  interest  in  securing  the 
money  —  a  double  force  against  Peep's  retaining  his 
fortune.  Were  you  in  doubt,  on  first  reading,  that 
O'Day  would  remain  in  possession  ?  Is  the  struggle  well 
developed  as  the  essential  foundation  of  the  plot? 

Is  the  denouement  satisfactory? 


CHAUTONVILLE 

CENTRAL  IDEA.    The  power  of  music  is  supreme. 

THE  STRUGGLE.  The  music-force  opposed  to  the 
men's  disinclination  to  charge.  Is  there  any  doubt  that 
in  singing  the  men  "  home  "  Chautonville  turned  them 
toward  the  enemy? 

THE  SETTING.  What  are  the  place  and  the  time  of 
the  action  ?  Point  out  details  that  keep  war  dominant. 

PRESENTATION.     Who  is  the  narrator  ? 

CHARACTERS.  Who,  specifically,  is  Chautonville? 
Why  is  the  description  of  his  voice  put  before  his  physical 
personality?  Value  of  the  contrast? 

DETAILS.  What  determination  of  the  narrator  is  used 
to  create  suspense?  How  is  the  determination  over- 
come? 

Try  to  recall  other  examples,  in  literature,  of  the 
power  of  music.  Study  its  whimsical  use  in  Kipling's 
"The  Village  That  Voted  the  Earth  Was  Flat";  its  use 
to  recall  the  past  in  O.  Henry's  "  The  Church  with  an 
Overshot  Wheel."  See  how  it  is  employed  in  connection 
with  the  climax  in  Mary  Synon's  "  The  Wallaby  Track," 
and  in  Kipling's  "  The  Brushwood  Boy." 

What  tonal  values  exist  in  the  suggestion  of  sounds? 

What  relation  exists  between  the  rhythm  and  the 
theme  ? 

Is  the  story  pre-eminently  one  of  theme,  character,  or 
setting  ? 


LAUGHTER 

According  to  Mr.  Dobie,  "  Laughter  "  was  a  work  of 
the  imagination  in  every  detail.  It  had  nowhere  a  start- 
ing point  from  reality,  though  —  as  he  says  —  he  now 
and  then  draws  a  character  from  life,  such  as  that  of 
Josef  in  "  Four  Saturdays,"  and  he  occasionally  shapes 
an  incident  to  the  needs  of  the  story,  as  he  did  in  "  The 
Failure."  In  "  The  Failure  "  and  other  stories,  however, 
as  in  "Where  the  Road  Forked,"  (Harper's,  June, 
1917),  he  states  that  the  incident  was  really  a  mere  pivot 
or  peg  on  which  he  hung  a  cloak  of  almost  pure  imagina- 
tion. 

In  regard  to  his  maintaining  his  angle  of  narration  so 
perfectly,  he  says  this  phase  of  his  craft  is  rather  in- 
stinctive. "  Even  before  I  became  conscious  of  the  force 
of  a  single  point  of  view  I  somehow  managed  to  achieve 
it  without  thinking  about  it  at  all." 

PLOT.  The  story  being  a  psychological  study  of  a  man 
who  was  untrue  to  himself  and  paid  the  penalty,  one 
might  expect  to  find  a  lack  of  external  incident.  Here 
the  author  accomplishes  the  difficult  thing  in  that  he  has 
developed  an  outer  action,  which  thus  objectively  exploits 
the  mental  processes. 

Initial  Incident.  (Anticipated  by  the  cumulative 
effect  of  the  Italian's  playing.)  Suvaroff  visits  his 
next  door  neighbor  to  remonstrate  against  the  ac- 
cordion.  He  learns  that  the  Italian  fears  death  at 
the  hands  of  Flavio  Minetti,  and  he  goes  with- 
out stating  the  object  of  his  visit.  (Notice  that  the 
theme  is  struck  in  the  Italian's  reason  for  fear:  he 
had  laughed  at  Minetti.) 

Steps  toward  the  Climax:    Suvaroff  betrays  to 
52 


LAUGHTER  53 

Minetti  the  whereabouts  of  the  Italian.  Before  he 
does  so,  Minetti  warns  him  of  the  results  of  his  so 
doing,  thus  preparing  for  the  next  period  of  the 
action.  Minetti  kills  the  Italian.  Suvaroff  sleeps. 
He  goes  to  breakfast;  he  hears  a  man  has  been 
murdered.  During  the  day  he  leaves  the  wine- 
shop where  he  plays  the  violin  (a  significant  outer 
act  reflecting  his  mental  state).  His  mind  wanders; 
he  thinks  he  dreamed  last  night.  Arriving  at  his 
rooms  he  finds  the  Italian's  mother.  She  divulges 
that  her  son  played  to  give  pleasure  to  Suvaroff. 
Minetti  enters  and  bestows  money  on  the  old  woman. 
Suvaroff  begs  the  hunchback,  "  Tell  me  in  what 
fashion  do  these  people  laugh  at  you?"  (This  is  a 
minor  climax,  one  stage  of  the  turning  of  SuvarofFs 
fortunes.  But  since  he  is  not  yet  able  to  laugh,  his 
life  is  in  no  danger  from  Minetti.  Had  he  not 
laughed,  he  would  have  lived.)  Minetti  begs  Suva- 
roff to  go  away;  but  he  declares  that  he  cannot. 
Suvaroff  finds  a  squalid  wine-shop  where  he  sits 
watching  the  shadows.  He  finds  he  may  learn  to 
laugh  at  them,  but  not  "  at  a  man's  soul."  He  buys 
a  pistol.  Minetti  says  he  will  never  use  it.  He  tells 
Minetti  of  the  wine-shop  pictures.  While  Suvaroff 
sits  studying  the  pictures  a  new  one  appears. 

Dramatic  Climax:  He  laughs,  then  turns  and 
sees  Minetti. 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:  Suvaroff 
goes  home,  undresses  deliberately,  and  goes  to  bed  — 
knowing  he  will  sleep. 

Climax  of  Action:  He  hears  the  steps  pattering 
along  the  hall,  and  draws  the  bed-clothes  higher. 

Denouement:  Constructed  by  the  reader,  who 
has,  however,  no  choice. 

SETTING.  San  Francisco.  "  Fancy  a  novel  about 
Chicago  or  Buffalo,  let  us  say,  or  Nashville,  Tennessee! 
There  are  just  three  big  cities  in  the  United  States  that 


54     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

are  '  story  cities  ' —  New  York,  of  course,  New  Orleans, 
and,  best  of  the  lot,  San  Francisco." —  Frank  Norris  is 
thus  quoted  by  O.  Henry  at  the  beginning  of  "  A  Mu- 
nicipal Report,"  which  (  frequently  proclaimed  O.  Henry's 
best  story)  has  its  setting  in  Nashville.  How  many  of 
the  stories  in  this  collection  have  their  settings  in  New 
York  ?  in  San  Francisco  ?  What  other  localities  are  rep- 
resented? What  do  you  conclude? 

How  has  Mr.  Dobie  kept  setting  before  the  reader? 
Is  it  the  same  city  as  Mrs.  Atherton  uses  in  "  The 
Sacrificial  Altar"?  Has  it  the  same  atmosphere? 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Are  Suvaroff  and  Minetti  "  liv- 
ing" characters?  Is  Suvaroff,  in  the  beginning,  ob- 
sessed? Does  the  obsession  culminate  in  monomania? 

Minetti's  physical  self  is  given  to  the  reader  from 
Suvaroff's  angle,  which  angle  is  consistently  used 
throughout.  What  is  Suvaroff's  personal  appearance? 
How  do  you  account  for  your  answer?  Whose  mental 
processes  are  not  exploited?  Why? 

Why  is  the  Italian's  mother  introduced  as  a  back- 
ground character? 

DETAILS.  The  smaller  features  of  the  story  reveal 
also  the  hand  of  the  craftsman:  the  use  of  night,  the 
wine-shop,  ugliness,  the  shadows,  and  the  arrangement 
of  the  steps  to  what  seems  an  inevitable  ending. 
"  Seems " ;  for  Mr.  Dobie  has  a  theory  "  that  there  is 
no  such  thing  as  an  inevitable  ending.  Any  opening 
situation  may  work  out  fifty  ways."  Is  it  possible,  after 
certain  steps  in  the  action,  to  produce  an  ending  other 
than  inevitable  ? 

How  is  the  cold  inflexibility  of  Minetti  made  convinc- 
ing? 

GENERAL.  "  In  my  days  of  apprenticeship,"  Mr. 
Dobie  says,  "  I  planned  my  story  out  in  detail  and  did 
much  re-writing.  I  think  one  must  do  this  at  the  begin- 
ning. But  if  one  finally  evolves  an  unconscious 
technique  which  does  away  with  a  scenario  I  think  it 
makes  for  more  spontaneous  writing.  .  .  .  But  it  is 


LAUGHTER  55 

dangerous  to  advise  methods.  My  point  in  dwelling  on 
the  virtues  of  '  planless  stories '  is  to  encourage  those 
who  find  their  salvation  along  these  lines  and  who  are 
uncertain  as  to  whether  such  a  method  will  lead  any- 
where. ...  I  started  *  Laughter '  in  September,  1916, 
wrote  about  five  pages,  got  stuck,  put  it  away,  dug  it 
up  three  or  four  months  later  and  in  about  three  weeks 
carried  it  to  a  conclusion.  .  .  ." 

"  It  is  rather  hard  to  give  a  definition  of  a  short  story. 
I  should  say  briefly  that  a  short  story  is  the  reaction  of 
a  character  or  characters  to  a  particular  incident,  circum- 
stance or  crisis.  Obviously,  as  its  name  implies,  there 
should  be  economy  of  line.  Perhaps  the  shortest  suc- 
cessful story  on  record  is  as  follows : 

'Three  wise  men  of  Gotham  went  to  sea  in  a  bowl. 
If  the  bowl  had  been  stronger,  my  tale  had  been  longer/ 

"  This  narrative  has  also  the  virtue  of  suggestion :  the 
greater  the  suggestion,  the  greater  the  story.  In  other 
words,  a  story  is  artistically  successful  in  proportion  to 
the  collaboration  exacted  from  the  reader." 


THE  OPEN  WINDOW 

To  get  the  proper  connection,  the  reader  should  first 
know  "  Laughter." 
PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:  Andre  Fernet  meets  the  hunch- 
back, Flavio  Minetti,  and  learns  that  he  knows  some- 
thing of  Suvaroff's  death.  He  is  brought  under 
Minetti's  power  of  fascination. 

Steps  toward  Dramatic  Climax:  Fernet' s  land- 
lord, Pollitto,  speaks  of /his  vacant  room.  Fernet  re- 
solves to  see  Minetti  again,  and  perhaps  to  learn 
who  killed  Suvaroff.  They  meet  at  the  Hotel  de 
France.  Minetti  says  he  was  "  expecting  "  Fernet. 
Fernet  goes  with  Minetti,  in  spite  of  warning,  to  a 
wine  shop.  Minetti's  suggestion  that  Fernet  evi- 
dently wished  to  know  who  murdered  SuvarofF  is 
coupled  with  a  warning  that  it  is  a  "  dreadful  thing 
to  share  such  a  secret."  But  Fernet  insists. 

Dramatic  Climax:  Minetti  says,  "  It  was  I  who 
killed  him,"  whereupon  Fernet  laughs.  Notice  that 
the  dramatic  climax,  the  laughter,  falls  early  in  this 
story,  whereas  in  the  former  it  arrives  tardily.  Is 
this  logical,  from  the  nature  of  the  circumstances  ? 

Steps  toivard  the  Climax  of  Action:  Minetti 
states  that  he  kills  every  one  who  laughs  at  him. 
He  prepares  a  cafe  royal;  Fernet  is  afraid,  but  makes 
a  show  of  indifference  or  incredulity.  In  the  morn- 
ing, Fernet  learns  that  his  landlord  has  rented  the 
room  to  Minetti;  he  thinks  of  going  away  but  de- 
cides to  stay  and  "  see  what  happens."  After  some 
days,  Minetti  calls  on  Fernet.  He  says  he  has  tried 
every  slow  way  of  murder  except  mental  murder. 
56 


THE  OPEN  WINDOW  57 

Fernet  laughs,  thus  emphasizing  the  dramatic  climax, 
but  as  Minetti  says  it  does  not  matter,  "  You  can  die 
only  once."  His  speech  intensifies  the  dramatic 
forecast,  already  conveyed.  Minetti  supplies  sac- 
charine for  the  coffee ;  Fernet  fears  "  slow  poison," 
but  nevertheless  drinks,  as  if  in  a  spirit  of  bravado, 
or  unwillingness  to  seem  afraid.  Minetti  harps  on 
the  idea  that  Fernet  has  laughed  at  him.  Fernet's 
landlord  comments  on  his  haggard  appearance. 
Fernet  dreams.  He  stays  away  from  his  office, 
visits  the  library,  and  asks  for  all  the  works  on 
poison.  After  dining  alone,  he  meets  Minetti,  who 
persuades  him  to  have  a  cup  of  coffee.  Fernet 
speaks  of  his  reading.  He  decides  to  go  away  to- 
morrow. On  arriving  at  his  room,  he  feels  sick 
and  is  helped  to  bed  by  Minetti.  He  grows  worse; 
Minetti  attends  him,  and  sends  for  the  doctor.  Upon 
the  doctor's  prescribing  delicacies,  Minetti  prepares 
several  which,  in  succession,  Fernet  refuses,  and 
which  he  sees  are  thrown  out  of  the  window.  At 
length  he  manages  to  tell  the  doctor  that  he  is  eating 
nothing,  in  spite  of  Minetti's  assertion  to  the  con- 
trary. The  doctor  thinks  Fernet  insane.  At  the 
end  of  the  week,  even  Minetti  says  he  has  eaten 
nothing.  Fernet  resolves,  again,  to  go  away  to-mor- 
row. But,  still  doing  without  food,  he  grows 
weaker. 

Climax  of  Action:  He  dies,  but  not  before  he 
hears  Minetti's  laughter  and  the  words :  "  With- 
out any  weapon  save  the  mind !  " 

The  struggle  is  well  elaborated,  as  the  preceding 
plot  outline  indicates,  even  though  it  is  the  one- 
sided bird-and-snake  struggle,  with  a  predetermined 
outcome. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Compare  Fernet  with  Suvaroff. 
Which  of  the  two  offers  the  more  difficult  problem  in 
psychology?  Is  it  easy  to  believe  that  Fernet  submitted 


58     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

to  the  sway  of  Minetti?  Why,  for  example,  did  he  not 
go  away? 

Compare,  also,  the  subordinate  characters  with  those 
in  "  Laughter."  What  do  most  of  them  in  this  story 
think  or  feel  about  Minetti?  How  does  the  author  in- 
dicate their  attitudes? 

DETAILS.  Is  the  angle  of  narration  similar  to  that 
in  "  Laughter "  ?  What  details  appeal  to  the  reader's 
gustatory  sense?  Study  the  symbolic  use  of  the  pepper- 
tree.  Compare  it  with  the  cherry-tree  in  *'  Cruelties." 
What  details  of  setting  emphasize  the  locality? 


THE  LOST  PHOEBE 

STARTING  POINT.  The  beginning  of  this  story  lay  in 
a  bit  about  an  insane  man  in  Missouri,  a  story  which 
came  to  Mr.  Dreiser  quite  ten  years  before  he  developed 
it.  The  story  quality  testifies  to  the  value  of  the  long 
dormant  period. 

SETTING.  Study  the  narrative,  observing  with  respect 
to  place  that  although  you  may  feel  you  have  your  mind 
on  the  exact  locality,  it  presently  flits  to  another  probable 
setting.  This  is  because  Mr.  Dreiser  attaches  no  im- 
portance to  the  locality  of  his  short  stories,  so  long  as 
the  incidents  are  American  —  and  either  urban  or  rural. 
The  gain  is,  of  course,  in  favor  of  the  essential  national- 
ity; the  loss  is  to  the  individual  community.  Does  the 
first  grasp  of  setting  bring  with  it  the  atmosphere  of  the 
narrative  ? 

CLASSIFICATION.  A  story  of  a  search,  at  last  success- 
ful.* It  may  be  classed,  also,  as  a  story  of  the  super- 
natural, wherein  the  vision  is  one  of  a  crazed  brain.  So 
beautifully  has  the  author  handled  the  fancy  and  the 
vision,  however,  that  the  reaction  on  the  reader  causes 
wonder  as  to  whether  sanity  and  insanity  are  not  relative, 
or  even  interchangeable. 

PRESENTATION.  By  the  omniscient  author,  who  exer- 
cises omniscience  particularly  over  the  mind  of  the  main 
character. 

CHARACTERS.  Henry  Reifsneider,  Phoebe  Ann  (his 
wife),  and  background  characters  of  the  community 
folk.  These  last  exist  to  give  verisimilitude,  for  con- 
trast, and  as  plot  pivots.  Cite  an  instance  for  each  use. 

PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:    Phoebe  dies. 
59 


60     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  Henry 
"  sees "  Phoebe  until  his  mind  gives  way  from 
brooding.  He  is  possessed  of  a  fixed  idea:  Phoebe 
left  because  he  "  reproached  her  for  not  leaving  his 
pipe  where  he  was  accustomed  to  find  it."  He 
searches  for  her  (immediate  first  steps  given  in  de- 
tail) nearly  seven  years. 

Dramatic  Climax:     He  finds  her. 

Steps  to  the  Immediate  Climax  of  Action:  He 
follows  her  to  the  edge  of  the  cliff ;  he  sees  her  below 
among  the  blooming  apple  trees. 

Climax  of  Action:    He  leaps  over  the  cliff. 

Denouement:     He  is  found,  a  smile  upon  his  lips. 

DETAILS.  Study  the  presentation  of  Henry,  which 
gives  so  clear  an  impression  of  his  unbalanced  mind. 
Study  the  motivation  for  this  insanity,  the  author's 
analysis  of  Henry's  psychology,  Henry's  acts,  and  his 
speeches.  What  contributory  effect  has  the  calling  for 
Phoebe? 

Would  you  agree  that  atmosphere  is  the  dominant  ele- 
ment in  the  story?  Is  a  supernatural  story  likely  to  be 
one  of  atmosphere?  Why? 

Study  the  way  in  which  the  author  has  made  vivid 
the  picture  of  the  Reifsneider  home.  Observe  the  skill 
with  which  he  has  contrasted  the  dull,  even  sordid,  real- 
ism of  the  actual  setting  with  the  beauty  of  Henry's 
visions.  Why  should  the  final  one  be  the  most  beauti- 
ful? What  color  words  do  you  find?  How  does  color, 
or  lack  of  it,  aid  in  the  unified  effect? 

Read  Mr.  Dreiser's  "  Free  "  (see  volume  bearing  this 
title)  and  compare  it  with  "  The  Lost  Phoebe."  Which 
do  you  regard  as  the  more  significant  story? 


LA   DERNIERE    MOBILISATION 

This  is  a  sketch,  wherein  the  mist,  the  fog,  the  forest, 
and  the  shadowy  figures  combine  with  the  muffled  sounds 
into  a  dim  monotone.  It  is  a  picture  galvanized  into  life. 
Notice  that  the  narrative  tense  is  not  preferred. 

The  meaning  of  the  sketch  emerges  in  the  last  .sentence. 
It  is  the  idea  which  lends  significance  to  the  picture. 


6r 


THE  EMPEROR  OF  ELAM 

CLASSIFICATION.  A  novelette.  The  length  (around 
20,000  words),  the  many  and  rapid  changes  of  scene,  the 
shifting  from  character  to  character,  the  broken  prog- 
ress,—  these  are  the  outstanding  characteristics  not  of 
the  short-story  but  of  a  more  leisurely  type  of  fiction,  one 
having  a  wider  canvas,  a  larger  significance. 

STUDY 


What  part  of  the  quotation  prefixed  to  the  beginning 
does  the  story  emphasize?  Has  the  quotation  an  inter- 
pretative value,  even  a  constructive  value,  for  the  story? 

What  is  the  locale  ?  Does  the  author  know  his  setting 
or  has  he  fancied  it?  (Read  his  "  Stamboul  Nights/') 
Study  the  locale  with  a  map  at  hand  (preferably  one 
showing  both  Turkey  and  Persia).  With  this  map  be- 
fore you,  note  the  scene  of  each  phase  of  the  action. 

Do  you  follow  easily  the  identities  of  the  boats  and 
passengers  in  Division  I  or  is  it  necessary  to  study  the 
situation  ? 

What  is  the  significance  of  the  "  translucent "  look  in 
Magin's  eyes  ? 

In  the  deck-house  description  why  is  attention  drawn 
to  the  lion? 

Why  is  so  much  space  given  to  Gaston  as  early  as 
page  4  of  the  story  (page  150,  Yearbook)  ?  Do  you, 
having  read  the  story,  think  that  Gaston  is  sufficiently 
played  up  to  serve  as  the  climax  figure  of  the  whole 
action?  Are  you  satisfied  that  Matthews  drop  out  of 

62 


THE  EMPEROR  OF  ELAM  63 

the  story  so  inconsequentially,  after  his  earlier  promi- 
nence ? 

What  is  the  purpose  of  the  echo  --"  A  bit  of  a  lark  !  " 

What  dramatic  value  has  the  mention  of  the  year  1914 
(page  151)  ?  How  is  emphasis  given  to  the  date? 

What  is  the  purpose  of  the  first  meeting?  The  show- 
ing of  the  treasure? 

Why  is  the  dame  de  compagnie  mentioned,  by  way  of 
climax,  at  the  end  of  Division  I  ? 

II 

Significance  of  "  propelled  their  galley  back  "  ? 
Where  is  the  city  of  Shuster?     Notice  its  position  with 
respect  to  the  city  of  Dizful  and  the  Persian  Gulf. 
Significance  in  the  use  of  the  German  tongue  (page 


What  is  the  purpose  of  the  scene  between  Magin  and 
Ganz?  Its  relation  to  the  scene  between  Magin  and  the 
Englishman  ? 

The  "coronation"  (page  15$)  refers  to  what?  See 
also  page  162. 

"  Are  you  the  Emperor  of  Elam  ?  "  Who,  by  the  sug- 
gestion, is? 

Who  is  the  Father  of  Swords? 

Who  is  Magin,  as  revealed  in  part  by  the  last  para- 
graph of  Division  II  ?  Has  Mr.  Dwight  a  fine  sense  of 
terminal  emphasis? 

in 

The  scene  shifts  to  Gaston  and  Matthews.  After  the 
dangers  and  difficulties  of  passage,  the  two  reach  Dizful. 

Note  the  brief  summary  of  the  disposition  of  Gaston 
(page  161  :  So  he  packed  off  Gaston,  etc.).  Is  it  too 
casual? 

Where  has  Bala-Bala  been  mentioned  previously? 

In  the  descriptions,  pages  162,  163,  164,  what  is  the 
dominant  impression? 


64     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

On  page  166  the  Father  of  Swords  speaks  of  his  friend 
Magin.  Do  you  see  the  point  of  the  allusions? 

What  is  the  meaning  of  the  paper  signed  by  Magin? 
Whose  emissary  is  he? 

What  dramatic  value  has  the  last  speech  of  Matthews 
in  Division  III?  Why  is  it  given  the  place  of  emphasis? 

IV 

This  division  opens  with  the  Father  and  Magin,  at 
Bala-Bala.  On  the  second  page,  however,  it  shifts  to 
Matthews,  at  Dizful. 

Notice  that  Matthews'  interest  in  Dizful  is  crossed  by 
the  "  Agent  "  of  Magin. 

What  is  the  purpose  of  the  scene  at  the  beginning  of 
which  Magin  presents  himself  at  Matthews'  gate? 

Why  did  Magin  glance  at  the  make  of  Matthews' 
cigarettes  ? 

Study  the  scene  for  the  effective  contrasts  between  the 
English  and  the  German  points  of  view. 

Why  does  Magin  try  to  bribe  Matthews  to  go  away  ? 

Is  the  dramatic  forecast  at  the  end  of  this  Division 
(IV)  justified?  Is  it  good,  in  itself? 


Notice  the  comparatively  trivial  manner  in  which 
Matthews  is  removed  from  the  scene.  The  real  cause 
for  his  going  away  is  "  a  stupid  war  on  the  continent." 
This  expression  indicates  that  the  cosmic  significance  of 
the  war  had  not  dawned  upon  Matthews. 

Why  did  Matthews  not  pause  to  hear  Magin  play? 
Why  is  so  much  attention  given  to  this  playing? 

What  is  the  significance  of  the  "  Majesty  "  in  Ganz's 
first  speech,  page  190? 

Is  the  dramatic  forecast  (page  191)  justified?  — 
"  What  if  ...  some  little  midshipman  were  to  fire  a  shot 
across  your  bow  ?  " 


THE  EMPEROR  OF  ELAM  65 

VI 

What  artistry  is  there  in  the  repetition  of  the  meet- 
ing between  the  motor-boat  and  the  barge? 

Why  is  so  much  space  given  to  the  knife  (page  192)  ? 

What  note  is  re-sounded  in  Gaston's  remark  (page 
193)  "  Monsieur,  you  travel  like  an  emperor!  "? 

What  is  the  leaning  of  Gaston's  speech  (the  last  on 
page  195)  regarding  the  object  of  virtue? 

Why  does  Magin  give  his  recent  tiarge  the  slip  and 
order  Gaston  to  turn  the  motor-boat  upstream? 

What  is  the  purpose  of  Gaston's  long  speech  on  page 
199? 

What  idea  enters  Gaston's  mind  at  the  close  of  Divi- 
sion VI?  Is  it  justified  as  dramatic  forecast? 

VII 

This  final  division  is  almost,  in  itself,  a  short-story, 
and  with  very  little  work  on  the  author's  part  might  have 
contributed  to  a  brief  narrative  of  decided  power.  At 
the  end  of  so  long  a  one,  its  value  diminishes;  for  the 
denouement  is  out  of  proportion,  even  out  of  line,  with 
the  beginning  of  the  narrative. 

What  does  the  incident  of  Magin's  finding  the  knife 
mean? 

Study  the  struggle  between  the  two  men. 

The  superb  climactic  speech  of  Gaston  compels  ad- 
miration :  "  This  at  least  I  can  do  —  for  that  great 
lady,  far  away." 

The  method  of  the  novelist  is  again  used,  by  way  of 
epilogue,  when  the  author  turns  to  the  peasant  on  the 
bluff. 


THE  CITIZEN 

CLASSIFICATION.  A  thematic  story :  dreams  and  ideals 
are  the  real  power.  The  ideal  citizen  is  also  emphasized. 
Classed  more  directly,  the  work  is  a  paean  of  patriot- 
ism. 

THE  OUTER  SETTING.  An  audience  of  two  thousand 
foreigners  who  have  just  been  admitted  to  citizenship. 

THE  CHARACTERS.  Ivan,  Anna,  his  wife,  and  the 
speaker  —  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

How  is  the  President  characterized?  How  is  Ivan 
contrasted  with  him?  How  related  to  him? 

Has  Anna  real  place  in  the  action? 

THE  PRESENTATION.  The  real  story  is  recounted  after 
the  climax  has  been  implied.  Ivan  and  Anna  are  here. 
One  knows  the  Dream  has  been  made  real,  and  reads  to 
see  how  it  all  came  about. 

THE  PLOT.  The  dream  of  freedom,  liberty,  motivates 
Ivan's  determination  to  come  to  America.  He  and  Anna 
successfully  struggle  to  save  money  for  the  voyage. '  The 
actual  journey  to  America  constitutes  something  of  a 
struggle,  in  itself,  for  the  poor  ignorant  peasants.  But 
they  are  upheld  by  the  dream,  and  are  victorious. 

DETAILS.  Compare  the  episodes  of  the  Russian  police 
and  the  American  police. 

What  can  you  say  about  the  style  as  related  to  the 
theme  ? 


66 


THE  GAY  OLD  DOG 

CLASSIFICATION.  Miss  Ferber  recognizes  the  diffi- 
culties of  boxing  into  the  shorter  form  the  material  which 
would  accommodate  a  larger  space.  "  The  tale  of  how 
Jo  Hertz  came  to  be  a  loop-hound  should  not  be  com- 
pressed within  the  limits  of  a  stort  story.  It  should  be 
told  as  are  the  photoplays,  with  frequent  throw-backs 
and  many  cut-ins.  To  condense  twenty-three  years  of 
a  man's  life  into  some  five  or  six  thousand  words  re- 
quires a  verbal  economy  amounting  to  parsimony  "  (page 
209). 

She  has,  however,  achieved  the  short-story  effect  in 
creating  one  dominant  character, —  in  unifying  the  ac- 
tion, and  in  conserving  one  purpose. 

PROPORTION.  One  of  the  greatest  problems  in  de- 
veloping the  action  of  a  story  which  covers  twenty-three 
years  is  that  of  proportion.  To  hover  over  the  "  purple 
patches,"  to  skip  the  unimportant  stretches,  and  to  link 
them  all  up  in  a  coherent  organization  —  this  requires 
a  sense  of  relative  values.  Why  has  the  author  de- 
veloped the  little  scene  at  the  death  of  Jo's  mother? 
Why,  that  is,  did  she  not  merely  leave  a  statement  of  the 
promise?  Why  is  the  rather  full  space  (pages  210  ff.) 
given  to  the  sisters  ?  How,  even  in  characterizing  them, 
does  the  author  keep  Jo  before  the  reader  as  the 
prominent  character  ?  "  Which  brings  us  to  one  Sunday 
in  May  "  (page  213)  indicates  an  episode  of  importance. 
How  much  time  has,  supposedly,  been  passed  over? 
Why  is  this  particular  Sunday  worked  out  in  scene  form? 
Why  are  the  stages  of  Jo's  and  Emily's  love  passed  over 
by  leaps  and  bounds?  Why  is  one  brief  paragraph, 

67 


68     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES , 

only,  given  to  the  final  disposition  of  Emily?  Why  is 
greater  length  comparatively  taken  up  in  the  disposal 
of  Eva  and  Babe  and  Carrie?  How  many  years  are 
covered  in  pages  219  and  220?  Why  is  a  fair  amount 
of  development  placed  on  the  gradual  withdrawal  of  Eva 
and  Babe? 

Roughly,  fifteen  pages  are  given  to  the  narrative  so  far 
(208-222),  covering,  say,  twenty  years.  The  remainder 
of  the  story  (pages  222-233)  covers  about  three  years, 
or  the  period  from  the  beginning  of  the  war  in  1914  to 
the  time  when  America's  first  troops  for  France  were 
leaving.  What  is  the  logic  of  this  proportion  with  refer- 
ence to  the  climax?  to  interest?  to  current  events? 

What  does  the  scheme  of  the  proportion,  in  short, 
emphasize  ? 

PLOT.  The  struggle  is  between  the  individual,  Jo 
Hertz,  and  the  conditions  of  his  life.  The  latter 
triumph,  even  though  they  leave  the  conquered  one  out- 
wardly successful. 

Initial  Incident:  Jo  Hertz's  promise  to  his  dying 
mother. 

Main  Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  Jo 
"  takes  care  of  the  girls  "  for  a  number  of  years.  At 
length,  he  falls  in  love  with  Emily.  They  wait 
three  years.  The  "  girls "  are  still  unmarried. 
Emily  and  Jo  part.  Emily  marries.  (So  passes  the 
first  minor  climax.)  Eva  marries.  Babe  (Estelle) 
marries.  Carrie  takes  a  settlement  job.  Jo,  free, 
finds  that  he  does  not  even  think  of  matrimony. 
The  sisters  fail  to  "  marry  him  off."  He  is  gradu- 
ally left  lonelier  and  lonelier.  (The  greatest  de- 
pression of  Jo's  fortunes,  financially,  combines  with 
his  loneliness  to  intensify  his  deserted  bachelor 
state.) 

Dramatic  Climax:  The  turning  point  in  Jo's 
financial  or  external  condition  comes  about  through 
the  War  and  the  fact  that  leather  goes  up.  Jo's 
fortune  is  made. 


THE  GAY  OLD  DOG  69 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:  The  "gay 
dog  "  business  begins :  Jo  buys  a  car,  he  takes  ex- 
pensive apartments,  he  tries  to  solace  himself  with 
the  friendship  of  a  demi-mondaine.  Eva  sees  him 
buying  a  hat  for  the  woman ;  Estelle  crosses  them  in 
a  restaurant ;  Ethel,  Eva's  daughter,  meets  him  in  her 
company  at  the  theatre.  Eva  and  Estelle  determine 
to  visit  Jo  and  call  a  halt.  They  drive  to  his  apart- 
ment. Meantime  Jo  has  been  watching  the  boys 
marching,  has  come  across  Emily,  has  helped  her 
to  see  her  boy  (Jo)  march,  and  has  told  her  good- 
by. 

Climax  of  Action,  and  Denouement:  The  climax 
is  dramatically  worked  out  in  the  scene  between  the 
sisters  and  Jo.  They  flee  terrified  at  Jo's  counter- 
charges. "  The  game  was  over  —  the  game  he  had 
been  playing  against  loneliness  and  disappointment." 

Draw  a  diagram  to  indicate  the  minor  climaxes 
and  other  points  of  interest. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  What  is  the  first  picture  the 
reader  receives  of  Jo?  Why  is  it  given  first?  As  re- 
lated to  the  order  of  plot  events,  is  it  the  denouement 
picture  ? 

How  does  Miss  Ferber  enlist  the  reader's  sympathy 
for  Jo  at  twenty-seven?  How  is  his  unselfishness  dis- 
played? Why  is  it  more  credible  presented  in  the  little 
scene-suggestions  (pages  211,  212)  than  if  affirmed  by 
the  author?  How  does  his  falling  in  love  with  Emily 
reveal  his  character?  What  trait  is  emphasized  in  his 
letting  Emily  go  ?  What  traits  are  responsible  for  his  de- 
velopment as  a  loophound?  Is  he  consistently  devel- 
oped? Does  the  story,  through  Jo,  present  a  universal 
situation  ? 

What  traits  of  the  girls,  as  a  group,  are  contrasted 
with  the  dominant  one  of  Jo?  What  ironic  moral  is 
visible,  between  the  lines,  in  the  denouement  on  the  re- 
spective advantages  of  selfishness  and  unselfishness? 


70     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

How  is  each  sister  respectively  individualized  with- 
out requiring  too  much  of  the  reader's  interest? 

What  are  Emily's  most  dominant  characteristics?  Is 
her  portrait  on  pages  229  and  230  the  fit  successor  to  the 
earlier  one? 

Is  there  any  objection  to  the  names  —  Eva,  Estelle, 
Emily,  Ethel  —  used  in  the  same  story  ?  Why  ? 

DETAILS.  To  use  Miss  Ferber's  own  adoption  of  the 
photoplay  term,  "  throw-backs,"  how  many  times  has  she 
reverted  to  preceding  action?  How  many  times,  to  note 
the  counterpart  of  the  throw-back,  has  she  introduced  an 
act  or  picture  which  has  its  chronological  place  later  on? 
W'hat  is  the  dramatic  value  of  having  the  sisters  wait 
for  Jo,  to  see  him  enter  with  red  eyes,  after  which  the 
author  pauses  to  narrate  the  cause  of  his  emotion  (page 
228)? 

What  double  purpose  has  the  author  in  describing  Jo's 
bedroom  (page  227)  ? 

Point  out  striking  examples  of  economy.  An  excellent 
one,  for  naturalness,  suggestive  power,  and  mere  word- 
saving  is  to  be  found  in  the  telephone  message  (page 
225).  Economy,  in  general,  is  also  bound  up  with  the 
operation  of  the  excellent  proportion. 

What  quality  of  style  is  most  marked  in  Miss  Ferber's 
stories?  How  is  it  achieved? 


BLIND  VISION 

PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:  Esme  attempts  to  fly  to  Brander, 
dying.  Motivation  for  the  incident  lies  in  Esme's 
friendship  for  Brander. 

Steps  toward  Dramatic  Climax:  Esme  is  attacked 
by  a  German  plane;  in  the  struggle  the  two  planes 
fall  inside  the  German  lines.  Esme  is  tortured.  At 
length,  he  consents  to  take  up  a  photographer. 

Dramatic  Climax:  Esme  throws  out  the  pho- 
tographer. 

Steps  toward  Climax  of  Action:  He  arrives  in- 
side the  lines  of  the  allies.  He  tells  his  story  to 
Marston,  his  friend,  who  shocked  at  Esme's  de- 
fection, declares  him  a  murderer.  Esme,  in  turn,  is 
appalled;  he  is  unable  to  understand  Marston's  dif- 
ferent code.  Marston  walks  out  of  the  tent. 

Climax  of  Action:  Esme  returns  to  the  German 
lines,  to  '*  render  a  life  for  a  life." 

Denouement:  Marston  finds  Esme's  note.  In  a 
revulsion  of  feeling,  he  recognizes  that  he  has  failed 
his  friend. 

PRESENTATION.  The  story  is  told  by  Marston  to  a 
nurse,  some  time  after  the  event.  From  Marston's  point 
of  view,  therefore,  the  tale  gains  pathos,  since  his  regret 
is  still  as  unceasing  as  unavailing.  Further,  the  method 
allows  the  reader  a  large  share  in  constructing  the  story ; 
and,  best  of  all,  by  changing  the  chronological  order  of 
the  events  to  the  logical  (they  are  also  chronological  as 
far  as  Marston  is  concerned),  the  author  gains  suspense. 
Reticence  characterizes  the  handling  of  the  uglier  de- 


I 
72     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

tails,  which  every  reader  will  fill  in  for  himself.  The  en- 
veloping action  closes  with  the  breaking  of  the  wine- 
glass. (Compare  query,  page  34.) 

CHARACTERIZATION.  The  tragic  failure  of  friendship, 
in  the  struggle  with  conflicting  ideals  of  honor,  gives 
the  story  its  poignancy.  It  belongs  in  the  group,  there- 
fore, with  "  The  Knight's  Move,"  by  Katherine  Fuller- 
ton  Gerould,  and  "  Greater  Love  — ,"  by  Justus  Miles 
Forman.  If  the  ideal  of  the  mental  man  is  typified  by 
his  appearance  and  behavior,  how  well  has  Miss  Freed- 
ley  succeeded  in  the  creation  of  Esme  and  Marston?  To 
what  extent  has  she  indicated  the  reaction  in  each  after 
crucial  moments?  How  far  has  she  subdued  the  outer 
"I"  narrator?  If  anticipated  sympathy  on  her  part 
motivates  Marston's  telling  her  the  story,  has  the  author 
justified  the  hypothesis? 


IMAGINATION 

COMMENT.  In  "  Imagination "  the  author  has  di- 
rected his  skill  toward  revelation  of  ^character  —  a  free 
revelation  produced  by  subtle  provocation.  A  man  has 
reacted  under  a  certain  stimulus  in  a  given  way;  under 
recollection  of  the  incident,  twenty  years  later,  he  reacts  in 
a  manner  that  intensifies  and  gives  significance  to  his 
earlier  behavior. 

PLOT,  then,  is  minified ;  situation  is  magnified.  At 
his  club,  Orrington,  literary  adviser,  is  dining  with  the 
narrator  and  Reynolds,  a  popular  writer.  Orrington 
relates  an  incident  of  the  day,  about  a  story  and  its 
author:  what  might  have  been  imagination  proved  to  be 
fact  —  the  author  of  the  story  was  hungry.  Orrington 
has  found  a  job  for  him.  The  conflict,  by  virtue  of  which 
the  story  interest  develops,  lies  in  the  opposing  views  of 
Orrington  and  Reynolds.  The  latter  holds  "  It's  a  very 
great  pity  that  young  men  without  resources  and  settled 
employment  try  to  make  their  way  by  writing."  Or- 
rington then  cites  the  case  of  twenty  years  ago.  On  the 
very  day  that  he,  a  young  editor  of  a  magazine  on  its 
uppers,  was  offered  a  4i  peach "  of  a  job,  he  read  a 
manuscript  which  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  author 
might  be  starving.  He  surrendered  his  chance  of  the 
new  position,  recommending  the  author  of  the  story. 
He  has  never  received  a  line  of  thanks ;  he  has  often 
wondered  how  the  man  "  got  on."  Incidentally,  as  an 
apparent  by-product  of  his  quixotism,  his  own  stock  be- 
gan to  rise  from  that  time.  Reynolds  states,  at  the  close 
of  Orrington's  story,  that  he  was  the  author  who  had 
been  given  the  "  boost,"  and  that  he  had  been  too  busy 
writing  the  articles  to  send  a  note  of  thanks.  He  had 

73 


74     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

supposed  that  he  was  the  recipient  of  a  usual  "  tip."  He 
declares,  further,  that  he  had  not  been  in  extremes,  and 
that  his  story  was  solely  the  product  of  imagination. 
After  he  leaves  the  club,  Orrington  then  reveals  to  the 
narrator:  "Of  course  I  knew.  Later,  of  course,  much 
later.  The  man  who  had  hired  him  to  do  those  articles 
bragged  about  it  to  me,"  etc. 

The  author  has  skilfully  used  the  incident  of  the  day 
to  force  out  the  larger  incident  wherein  Reynolds  figures. 
They  are  similar,  and  yet  bear  to  one  another  a  peculiar 
contrasting  relation.  The  young  man  of  Orrington's  im- 
mediate experience  had  written  from  facts;  there  is  a 
rather  strong  suggestion  that  he  may  amount  to  some- 
thing. Reynolds  had  written  from  imagination;  the 
whole  characterization  of  his  success,  great  as  it  seems, 
indicates  that  it  is  an  "  output,"  so  much  the  worse  for 
literature. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  "  You  add  to  my  pleasure  by 
bringing  our  friend  " —  what  trait  in  Reynolds'  character 
is  announced  in  these  first  reported  words?  Follow  the 
trait  throughout  the  story  as  it  is  expressed  in  his 
speeches  or  acts;  as  it  is  suggested  by  the  narrator,  and 
by  Orrington. 

"  In  motion  he  resembles  a  hippopotamus  "  .  .  .  "  his 
rather  dull  eyes  "  .  .  .  "  his  fat  hand  "  .  .  .  "  shrugged 
his  heavy  shoulders  "  .  .  .  "  as  if  he  had  been  some  fat 
god  of  the  Orient  "...*'  Orrington  goggled "... 
Study  the  portrait  of  Orrington  pictured  in  these  and 
similar  strokes  by  the  narrator,  and  notice  the  evidences 
of  *'  contrast  between  his  Falstaffian  body  and  his  nicely 
discriminating  mind."  What  first  ingratiates  him  with 
the  reader  ? 

Why  is  the  first  person  the  best  one  from  whose  angle 
to  present  the  story?  What  is  his  function  in  the  dra- 
matic situation? 


THE  KNIGHT'S  MOVE 

CLASSIFICATION.  A  "  problem "  story :  the  setting 
forth  in  the  guise  of  fiction  of  this  question,  "  Shall  a 
man  useful  to  society  lay  down  his  life  for  a  social 
member  far  inferior  to  himself  ? "  The  problem  is 
argued  through  the  concrete  instance,  and  by  two 
characters. 

SUMMARY  OF  THE  INSTANCE.  When  the  Argentina 
went  down,  Ferguson  saved  himself,  rather  than  old 
Bronson  or  the  Neapolitan  peasant  women  and  children. 
The  world  was  the  gainer  by  Ferguson's  survival. 
Later,  Ferguson  loved  and  became  engaged  to  a  girl. 
One  day  as  they  were  out  walking,  they  saw  a  bandy- 
legged, sore-eyed  youngster  dash  upon  the  railroad  track 
in  front  of  a  train.  Ferguson  could  just  have  saved  the 
youngster  at  the  cost  of  sacrificing  himself,  and  although 
he  alone  knew  this,  he  allowed  the  girl  to  understand 
that  he  had  made  a  choice.  She  "  rounded  on  him,"  and 
"  spurned  him  in  the  grand  manner."  Ferguson,  loving 
the  girl,  died.  He  probably  committed  suicide,  not  be- 
cause he  had  changed  his  own  views,  but  because  of 
assuming  the  girl's  view  to  be  correct.  "  He  couldn't 
have  admitted  in  words  that  she  was  right,  when  he 
felt  her  so  absolutely  wrong;  but  he  could  make  that 
magnificent  silent  act  of  faith." 

PRESENTATION.  Ferguson's  story  is  given  by  Have- 
lock  to  Chantry.  Skill  is  evinced  in  so  breaking  the 
rehearsed  narrative  as  to  allow  discussion  at  proper 
stages.  The  answers  to  the  problem,  supposed  above, 
are  in  opposition.  Herein  lies  the  basis  of  the  discus- 
sion, as  of  the  struggle  which  Ferguson  underwent. 

Does  the  author  in  the  presentation  subtly  convey  her 

75 


76     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

own  attitude  on  the  question?  What  is  it?  How  does 
it  emerge  in  her  characterization  of  the  men?  In  the 
final  sentence  of  the  narrative? 

SETTING.  Why  in  the  story  of  Ferguson  does  the  au- 
thor subdue  setting?  Why  is  the  setting  of  the  rehearsal 
emphasized  ? 

Read  in  connection  with  "  The  Knight's  Move,"  and 
for  purposes  of  comparison,  "  Greater  Love  — "  by 
Justus  Miles  Forman  (Harper's,  April,  1908). 


IN  MAULMAIN  FEVER-WARD 

STARTING  POINT  AND  FUNDAMENTAL  PROCESSES. 
'*  The  starting  point  for  '  In  Maulmain,  Fever  Ward  '  is 
in  the  first  four  words  of  the  tale :  '  Flood  time  on  Sal- 
win  River/  Flood  time!  Then  the  flowers  are  rioting, 
the  traders  are  coming  in  and  of  course  all  things  else 
follow. 

"  Of  course,  I've  read  Poe's  '  Descent  into  the  Mael- 
strom/ Who  has  not?  I  do  not  believe  that  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  my  use  of  the  whirlpool  in  the  story. 
The  situation  had  been  created ;  it  was  inevitable  that 
the  agent  of  the  priesthood  of  Siva,  most  subtle  of  all 
in  the  whole  world,  would  bring  the  two,  or  the  girl, 
into  the  folds  of  the  python.  But  where?  Surely,  the 
only  place  for  this  to  happen  was  in  the  profundities  of 
the  whirlpool,  traditional  abode  of  the  mother  of  all 
pythons  of  that  whole  region.  Hence  the  necessity  for 
the  flood  itself  to  climax  the  action,  to  form  the  whirl- 

?ool  at  its  most  tremendous  phase,  to  take  them  down, 
wasn't  thinking  of  Poe  when  I  sent  them  down  into 
the  abyss.  I  went  with  them  —  and  brought  them  out. 

Did  I  know  a  person  who  had  made  a  whirlpool 
descent?  Yes;  myself.  A  fearless  swimmer  in  youth, 
I  often  dived  under  the  swirls  of  falls  and  at  the  tails 
of  rapids,  looking  up  to  admire  the  way  the  whirls  refract 
light  and  to  listen  to  the  curious  overtones  the  reverbera^ 
tions  of  the  water  take  on,  and  the  singing  of  the  gravel 
as  it  churns  ceaselessly. 

.  .  .  The  superstitions  —  I  call  them  the  religious 
phases  of  the  tale  —  are  taken  from  the  real  life  of  those 
people.  I  could  give  you  a  map  of  the  region,  drawn  to 
scale.  And  there's  a  temple  in  a  certain  Karen  town, 

77 


78     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

and  in  that  temple  a  god  with  a  necklace  of  human  heads, 
or  was,  once  in  a  way.  (There  never  would  be,  how- 
ever, a  snake,  I  think,  in  a  chest  in  a  temple  of  Siva. 
Neither  do  they  worship  the  snake,  per  se.  They  look 
upon  it  as  one  of  the  agencies  by  which  the  Destroyer 
works  and  will  not  even  kill  a  snake  that  gets  into  a 
house  or  bed.)  When  I  say  Karen  town,  there  are 
many,  for  the  Karens  are  a  race  and  have  many  towns. 
Of  course,  I  didn't  specify  which  one  I  meant  in  the 
story.  And  I  guess  there  isn't  such  a  whale-swallow- 
ing whirlpool  in  that  gorge,  but  I  needed  one  right  there 
and  what  a  fellow  needs  in  fiction,  he  takes." —  George 
Gilbert. 

PLOT.  An  excellent  construction,  the  framework  re- 
veals only  one  or  two  crudities  to  the  eye  of  the  critic. 
The  author  has  motivated  every  act,  which  is  followed 
by  a  logical  effect ;  and  in  the  presentation  of  the  story,  he 
has  chosen  the  order  best  calculated  to  win  the  reader's 
interest,  curiosity,  feeling  of  suspense,  and  finally  of 
satisfaction. 

Initial  Impulse:  Pra  Oom  Bwhat  invites  the  man 
who  calls  himself  Paul  Brandon  to  visit  the  temples 
of  Karen.  (Motivation:  He  hopes  Brandon  will 
free  Nagy  N'Yang.  Where,  in  the  story,  does  the 
reader  learn  this  motivation?) 

Steps  tozvard  Minor  Dramatic  Climax:  Paul 
loves  Nagy  N'Yang;  she  will  prove  to  him  why  it 
is  folly.  (Follows  the  capital  temple  scene.)  It 
is  clear  that  she  belongs  to  Siva.  She  leaves  the 
temple.  Paul  learns  that  she  is  married,  but  has 
been  claimed  by  the  priests  on  her  wedding  day.  He 
makes  known  the  conditions  on  which  she  will  be 
freed.  The  priest  threatens :  "  I  can  call  her  back 
or  kill  her "...  Paul  crushes  the  cobra,  thereby 
drawing  upon  himself  the  curse  of  the  priest 

Minor  Dramatic  Climax:  He  takes  Nagy  N'Yang 
away.  In  the  first  struggle,  Paul  has  been  success- 
ful, but  has  unwittingly  incurred  the  enmity  of  Pra 


IN  MAULMAIN  FEVER-WARD  79 

Oom  Bwhat.  This  enmity  motivates  a  deferred 
major  dramatic  climax. 

Steps  toward  Major  Dramatic  Climax:  Nagy 
N'Yang  tattoos  Paul's  head  with  the  mark  of  Siva. 
(What  is  her  reason?)  Pra  Oom  Bwhat  arrives. 
(How  does  the  author  apparently  motivate  his  en- 
try upon  the  scene?  At  what  point  in  the  narrative 
does  his  real  motive  become  known  ?)  Nagy  N'Yang 
is  afraid.  (Does  the  reader  guess  why?)  The 
rains  come.  Pra  Oom  Bwhat  wears  an  air  of  mys- 
tery. Ali  Beg  presents  Paul  with  a  throwing  knife. 
(Thrilling  dramatic  forecast)  The  stream  roars; 
flood-tide  approaches.  (A  fine  harmony,,  in  that 
the  dramatic  climax  approaches  with  it.)  Pra  Oom 
Bwhat  presents  Nagy  N'Yang  with  a  gift.  (What 
is  the  effect  on  the  reader,  who  is  at  the  moment 
ignorant  of  the  real  nature  of  the  gift?)  He  asks 
her  to  walk  apart.  Paul  supposing  he  is  Nagy 
N'Yang's  "  brother "  permits  them  to  go  together. 
The  succeeding  steps,  not  immediately  presented, 
are  these:  Pra  Oom  Bwhat  binds  Nagy  N'Yang 
to  a  teak  log  and  leaves  her  to  be  swept  down 
the  whirlpool.  He  returns  to  kill  Paul,  but  in  the 
struggle,  or 

Dramatic  Climax  (the  real  turning  point),  Paul 
kills  him  with  Ali  Beg's  throwing  knife.  Before  he 
dies  Pra  Oom  Bwhat  lays  the  curse  of  Siva  upon 
Paul.  This  curse  motivates,  then,  further  steps  in 
the  action. 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:  Paul  rushes 
out  to  rescue  Nagy  N'Yang,  but  finds  that  the  teak 
log,  bearing  its  dark  burden,  has  swung  farther  out. 
He  notices  the  chest  and  momentarily  hoping  it  may 
be  a  boat  lays  hands  on  it.  As  he  raises  the  lid,  the 
giant  python  glides  out  and  disappears  at  the  river 
brink.  (Here  is  an  obvious  manipulation,  although 
the  average  reader  will  lose  sight  of  the  manage- 
ment. Is  it  likely  that  Paul  would  have  tarried  to 


8o     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

open  the  chest?)  Paul  then  swims  to  the  log  and 
crawls  upon  it  just  before  it  takes  the  whirlpool 
plunge.  In  the  bottom  the  python  coils  about  the 
trunk  and  Paul.  As  they  emerge,  Paul  contrives 
to  kill  the  python  with  Ali  Beg's  knife  which  he  has 
taken  from  the  dead  body  of  Pra  Oom  Bwhat,  but 
not  before  the  snake  has  given  him  the  glancing  blow 
on  the  brow,  over  the  tattoo  mark.  Ali  Beg  finds 
Paul  and  Nagy  N'Yang,  unconscious,  and  takes 
them  to  the  hospital.  Paul  tells  the  story,  himself 
learning  from  the  nurse  the  detail  just  stated. 

Denouement:  He  receives  the  scale  from  the 
python  and  burns  it  over  the  night  taper,  so  re- 
moving the  spell.  He  learns  that  Ali  Beg  and 
Nagy  N'Yang  are  with  him,  and  says  he  and  Nagy 
will  not  go  up-country  again. 

THE  NARRATOR.  The  first  person  is  preferable;  for 
since  Paul  learns  but  tardily  certain  steps  of  the  com- 
plication, the  reader  (who  knows  only  what  Paul  knows) 
must  remain  in  suspense.  Try  telling  the  story  from 
an  objective  point  of  view,  placing  every  step  in  its 
chronological  order.  What  does  the  story  lose? 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Compare  the  characteristics  of 
these  Oriental  figures  with  those  in  "  A  Simple  Act  of 
Piety."  What  have  they  in  common?  Why  does  Mr. 
Gilbert  choose  a  half-breed  as  his  narrator  and  hero? 
Point  out  every  example  of  Paul's  fearlessness.  Why 
does  he  not  appear  conceited  or  egotistical,  as  the  first 
person  narrator  is  in  danger  of  seeming?  What  is 
Pra  Oom  Bwhat's  distinguishing  trait?  Point  out  all 
examples  of  his  duplicity;  of  his  religious  or  supersti- 
tious nature. 

Show  that  love,  in  one  guise  or  another,  largely  moti- 
vates every  stage  of  the  action,  with  certain  exceptions, 
which  result  from  thwarted  love.  To  what  extent  does 
religion  motivate  the  acts? 


IN  MAULMAIN  FEVER- WARD  81 

Is  the  python  a  "  character  "  ?  What  is  Nagy  N'Yang's 
chief  role?  Is  AH  Beg's  part  too  obvious? 

LOCAL  COLOR.  Why  and  how  does  the  author  em- 
phasize the  setting  in  the  first  paragraph  ?  Where  is  the 
snake  motif  introduced?  Trace  its  progress,  not  only 
for  its  plot  value,  but  for  its  contribution  to  the  reader's 
realization  of  setting.  Where  are  the  rains  first  men- 
tioned? What  inanimate  objects  contribute  to  the  local 
color?  What  customs?  What  beliefs?  Is  the  story 
primarily  one  of  setting,  plot,  or  character;  or  have  the 
elements  been  harmonized  into  an  evenly  balanced  nar- 
rative ? 

ATMOSPHERE.  Is  the  mood  or  "  feel "  of  the  story  a 
trifle  too  near  melodrama?  What  phases  of  the  action, 
if  any,  would  you  subdue? 

DETAILS.  "  Take  away  the  medicine "  (third  para- 
graph). Does  this  indication  that  a  sick  person  is  the 
narrator  surprise  you?  If  so,  is  the  technique  sound? 

Why  are  the  details  of  Paul's  courtship  left  to  the 
reader  ? 

Is  the  fight  between  Paul  and  Pra  Oom  Bwhat  pre- 
sented economically?  convincingly? 

Good  dramatic  moments  are  found  in  such  passages  as 
those  wherein  the  noise  in  the  chest  is  indicated  imme- 
diately after  Paul  says  he  would  seek  the  way  of  love; 
in  the  stirring  immediately  after  Paul  says,  "  I  can  kill 
the  snake  " ;  in  Paul's  crushing  the  cobra  and  so  drawing 
an  immediate  curse,  etc.  Point  out  several  other  ex- 
amples. 

Make  a  list  of  the  struggles  in  order  as  they  occurred. 

What  are  the  three  main  settings  or  scenes  ? 

Does  the  happy  denouement  convince  you? 

AUTHOR'S  CONCEPT  OF  THE  TERM  SHORT-STORY 

"  No  mere  relation  of  harmonized  incidents,  no  recur- 
rent crises,  can  make  a  short  story.  There  must  be  an 
inner  voice.  To  explain  my  meaning:  I  do  not  count 


82     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

Chekhov's  l  The  Darling '  a  short  story.  It  is  a  fine  char- 
acter sketch.  It  has  a  beginning,  a  very  fine  working  out, 
but  it  gets  nowhere.  Three-fourths  of  the  Russian  short 
stories,  so-called,  are  not  stories  at  all.  They  are 
sketches,  narrations  of  incidents.  They  are  like  a  song, 
finely  wrought,  but  with  no  dominant  chord  to  resolve 
them  into  a  real  end." —  George  Gilbert. 


A  JURY  OF  HER  PEERS 

TITLE.  The  intimate  relation  between  the  one-act 
play  and  the  short-story  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  the 
narrative  here  told  has  its  dramatic  counterpart  in  the 
stage  production  entitled  "Trifles."  The  latter  was 
presented  in  the  season  of  1916-1917  in  New  York  City. 
What  is  the  excellence  of  each  title? 

GERMINAL  IDEA.  "  A  long  time  ago,  when  I  was  a 
reporter  in  Iowa,  I  went  to  the  house  of  a  woman  who 
was  being  held  for  murder,  and  while  the  circumstances 
were  not  at  all  those  of  *  Trifles/  it  was  out  of  that 
experience  the  play  grew." —  Susan  Glaspell. 

FACTS  OF  THE  PLOT.  Minnie  Foster  marries  John 
Wright.  Basis  for  trouble  lies  in  the  fact  that  Minnie 
is  a  lively  girl,  with  a  love  for  color  and  action,  while 
John  is  a  hard  man,  and  '*  like  a  raw  wind  that  gets  to  the 
bone."  They  have  no  children,  and  as  the  years  go  by, 
Minnie  is  more  and  more  lonely.  The  neighbor  women 
leave  her  to  herself ;  her  isolation  is  pronounced.  At 
length,  after  many  years,  she  comforts  herself  with  a 
caged  bird.  In  a  fit  of  rage,  John  wrings  the  bird's  neck. 
Minnie,  half-crazed,  lays  aside  the  body  of  the  bird  in 
her  sewing  basket.  Shortly  after,  while  her  husband  is 
asleep,  she  strangles  him  to  death  with  a  rope.  The  next 
morning,  she  explains  to  a  passing  neighbor,  who  drops 
in  on  a  business  visit,  that  John  has  been  strangled  by 
"  somebody  " ;  that  she  is  a  sound  sleeper,  and  sleeps  on 
the  "  inside "  of  the  bed.  The  neighbor  notifies  the 
sheriff.  Minnie  is  taken  to  prison.  The  next  day,  the 
sheriff,  Peters,  with  his  wife  and  the  district  attorney 
go  out  to  the  Wright  place  to  make  an  examination. 
Hale,  a  neighbor,  and  Mrs.  Hale  are  with  them.  The 

83 


84     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

men  seek  a  cause,  a  motive,  for  the  killing  of  Wright, 
but  find  nothing.  While  they  are  making  large  and 
futile  observations,  however,  Mrs.  Hale  and  Mrs.  Peters 
discover  the  dead  bird  and  other  evidence.  With 
awakened  understandings,  the  women  conceal  the  evi- 
dence —  Martha  Hale  takes  the  bird  away  in  her  pocket. 

MANAGEMENT  OF  THE  FACTS  —  THE  DEVELOPED 
PLOT.  The  most  noteworthy  and  striking  management 
lies  in  corralling  the  whole  story  into  one  "  cold  March 
morning,"  and  only  part  of  that.  Unity  of  setting,  the 
Wright  home,  is  a  less  difficult  achievement.  Notice 
that  the  story  introduction  calls  up  a  setting  outside  the 
Wright  home,  whereas  the  play  ("Trifles")  used  only 
the  kitchen  at  the  Wrights'.  Which  is  better  for 
intensification? 

The  chronological  order  of  the  plot  is  rearranged  for 
artistic  purposes  and  for  interest.  The  author  begins 
at  the  point  of  the  visit  to  the  empty  house  by  the  sheriff's 
party. 

To  understand  thoroughly,  the  difference  between  the 
order  of  plot  presentation  and  the  order  of  chronological 
growth,  make  out  a  list  of  the  details  as  you  gather  them 
from  the  story  progress.  Then  compare  them  with  the 
"  Facts  of  the  Plot,"  set  forth  above. 

STORY  PRESENTATION.  The  narrative  is  given  to  the 
reader  according  to  the  detective  story  method.  Martha 
Hale's  point  of  view  is  used  at  the  start,  after  which 
the  dramatic  method  is  employed,  the  spot-light  shifting 
from  one  woman  to  another,  occasionally  lighting  on  the 
men,  but  lingering  most  often  on  Martha  Hale.  Why 
is  she  the  best  one  through  whom  the  reader  may  under- 
stand the  entire  situation  ? 

Where  do  you  first  feel  yourself  responding  to  a  sense 
of  mystery?  How  does  the  author  convey  this?  What 
is  the  effect  in  the  first  paragraph  of  these  words?  — 
"  It  was  no  ordinary  thing  that  called  her  away,"  etc. 

Observe  the  little  apology  (bottom  of  page  258)  by 
which  the  author  has  kept  the  search  delayed  until  the 


A  JURY  OF  HER  PEERS  85 

second  day,  after  Minnie  has  been  taken  away.  Why 
is  the  latter  accomplishment  a  plot  necessity? 

What  contributory  worth  has  the  emphasis  (page  259) 
on  Mrs.  Kale's  Harry?  .  .  .  How  is  it  used  to  effect 
contrast  ? 

Pages  260  and  261  in  effect  convey  a  rehearsal;  but 
they  have  dramatic  worth  also.  -Why?  (Note  that 
Minnie's  speeches  are  quoted,  not  summarized.)  See 
following  pages  for  similar  dramatic  accomplishment. 

Study  the  natural  way  in  which  Hale  and  Peters  are 
pushed  off  the  stage  (page  263),  leaving  the  women 
together  with  the  attorney.  Purpose  of  his  remaining  a 
moment  ? 

Observe  the  care  with  which  every  important  detail  of 
the  plot  is  motivated. 

Study  the  scene  wherein  the  women,  with  an  eye  for 
little  things,  arrive  at  the  truth.  Is  their  solution  stated, 
or  is  it  suggested? 

What  do  you  deduce  from  the  stove  with  the  broken 
lining?  From  the  crazy  stitches  in  the  sewing?  From 
the  bird-cage  of  the  broken  hinge? 

What  double  meaning  lies  in  the  concluding  sentence, 
"  We  call  it  —  knot  it,  Mr.  Henderson  "  ? 

SETTING.  Has  the  actual  setting  an  influence  on  the 
characters  with  respect  to  the  story  action?  How  is  the 
setting  given  in  the  finished  narrative?  How  is  it  con- 
nected with  the  theme? 

CHARACTERS.  Make  a  list  of  the  characters  and  state 
the  reason  for  the  existence  of  each  with  regard  to  the 
action,  to  the  verisimilitude,  and  to  the  need  for  con- 
trast. It  is  a  difficult  thing  to  focus  clearly  before  the 
reader  a  character  who  never  "  comes  on  the  stage/' 
Has  Miss  Glaspell  succeeded  in  evoking  for  you  the  per- 
son and  the  individuality  of  Minnie  Wright? 

Does  one  desire  in  a  story  of  this  nature  types  or  in- 
dividuals f  \Vhich  character  should  be  most  individual, 
here,  as  regards  the  author's  purpose  ? 


THE  SILENT  INFARE 

STARTING  POINT.  "  Most  of  my  dialect  stories  have 
some  basis  of  fact  in  their  incidents,"  says  Mr.  Gordon, 
"  and  in  them  I  have  sought  to  depict  phases  of  the  life 
and  characteristics  of  the  negroes  whom  I  grew  up 
among  as  a  boy,  and  have  known  more  or  less  intimately 
since. 

'  The  Silent  In  fare '  was  a  real  occurrence,  as  was 
the  pillow  episode  in  '  Mr.  Bolster ' ;  and  the  story  of 
'  Sinjinn  Surviving/  in  Harper's  Magazine,  is  in  its  main 
features  true.  Nearly  all,  if  not  all,  of  the  stories  in  the 
'  Ommirandy '  book  had  some  foundation  of  fact,  and 
the  characters  are  amplified  portraitures  of  '  darkeys  I 
have  known/  " 

CLASSIFICATION.  Not  a  short-story,  in  the  limited 
sense  of  the  term,  but  an  interesting  reflection  of  life 
in  the  story  that  is  short.  The  action  is  not  all  directed 
toward  one  end;  the  main  episode  is  almost  incidental 
in  the  casualness  of  its  occurrence  —  as  incidents  occur 
in  life ;  —  character  is  the  connecting  link  between  the 
earlier  and  the  later  stages  of  the  narrative  phases.  In- 
cidental action  contributes,  rather  to  character  than  to 
action;  e.g.,  the  business  of  the  guinea  nest  is  a  high 
light  on  Ommirandy,  on  the  boy,  Tibe,  and  on  the 
mistress  of  the  house,  whereas  it  has  only  slight  sug- 
gestive value  for  the  plot.  Emphasis  on  the  nest  at  the 
close  emphasizes  the  realistic  qualities  of  the  story. 

The  method  of  the  author  shows  that  he  is  "  a  born 
story-teller."  He  has  an  appreciation  of  the  life  about 
him,  he  has  the  gift  of  literary  expression,  and  he  writes 
perfect  dialect.  Interested  in  larger  literary  worth,  he 
can  afford  to  disregard  the  technicalities  of  the  short- 

86 


THE  SILENT  INFARE  87 

story  —  which  may  be,  or  may  not  be,  a  very  well 
executed  piece  of  work  and  still  fall  short  of  permanent 
excellence. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Who  is  the  main  figure?  What 
pictures  of  herself  do  her  own  speeches  contribute? 
How  does  her  attitude  toward  Mis'  Nancy  emphasize 
the  portrait  ?  Mis'  Nancy's  relations'with  her  emphasize 
what  qualities?  Does  the  author's  own  comment  help 
the  reader  to  an  appreciation  of  Ommirandy?  Where? 

Give  several  examples  of  contrast  and  comparison 
noticed  in  your  studying  the  portrayal  of  the  various 
figures. 

PLOT.  Studying  the  leisurely  progress  of  the  story, 
should  you  pronounce  it  a  growth  or  a  construction? 
Is  there  a  struggle?  Is  the  main  incident  presented  in 
its  chronological  order?  How  is  it  enhanced  by  being 
given  through  the  words  of  Ommirandy,  rather  than 
from  her  point  of  view,  as  she  looked  through  "  de 
winder  over  de  kitchen  do',"  but  in  the  words  of  the 
author  ? 

SETTING.  What  is  the  locale  ?  Measuring  the  "  local 
color  story  "  by  the  dictum  that  it  could  have  its  action 
nowhere  except  in  the  time  and  place  indicated,  would 
you  agree  that  this  is  a  story  of  local  color?  What  other 
Virginian  has  used  similar  scenes?  What  stories  akin 
to  this,  in  regard  to  the  value  of  setting,  do  you  find  in 
Mr.  O'Brien's  collections? 

Mr.  Gordon  once  said  in  a  letter  to  Rudyard  Kipling, 
so  he  states,  that  he  regarded  as  the  four  best  stories  in 
the  English  language,  "Wandering  Willie's  Tale"  (In 
"Redgauntlet"),  Bret  Harte's  "The  Luck  of  Roaring 
Camp,"  George  W.  Cable's  "  Posson  Jone,"  and  Kip- 
ling's "  The  Man  Who  Was."  In  which  of  the  four  is 
the  element  of  setting  foremost? 

GENERAL  METHOD.  "  If  I  should  venture  to  say  any- 
thing about  the  writing  of  a  short  story  it  would  be  this : 
the  first  consideration  is  that  the  writer  must  have  a  short 
story  to  tell;  and  the  second  consideration  that,  after 


88     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

having  learned  by  long  and  constant  practice  to  write 
clear  and  vigorous  English,  he  must  tell  the  story 
naturally,  after  his  own  fashion.  No  one  else's  fashion 
will  do." 

This  explicit  statement  of  Mr.  Gordon  should  be  con- 
sidered by  every  would-be  writer  of  stories.  Notice 
that  he  does  not  say  nothing  can  be  learned  from  read- 
ing other  stories,  or  from  studying  their  mechanism. 
Would  his  own  stories  be  what  they  are  if  a  long  line 
of  American  writers  had  not  preceded  him?  Would 
Shakespeare  have  written  his  dramas  if  his  immediate 
predecessors  and  contemporaries  had  not  lived?  In  an- 
other age,  when  another  literary  genre  was  foremost, 
Shakespeare  would  have  foresworn  drama  for  the  pre- 
vailing style. 


THE  CAT  OF  THE  CANE-BRAKE 

STARTING  POINT.  Frederick  Stuart  Greene  wrote  this 
story  out  of  his  experiences  and  observations  as  an  en- 
gineer in  certain  Southern  districts.  The  pine  woods, 
the  wretched  cabin,  the  cane-brake,  the  rattlesnake,  the 
brogan  shoes  —  these  are  concrete  instances  of  his 
familiarity  with  the  setting.  The  immediate  germinal 
idea  lies  in  an  incident  he  recalled  of  seeing  a  severed 
rattlesnake  head  fastened  to  the  leg  of  a  man  in  camp. 
PLOT.  The  compactly  wrought  plot  is  one  of  the  best 
in  recent  fiction.  It  is  formed,  in  the  main,  from  the 
interweaving  of  two  lines  of  interest.  One  has  to  do 
with  the  struggle  between  the  yellow  cat  and  the  woman, 
Sally;  the  other  spins  out  the  sordid  love  affair  between 
Sally  and  the  young  engineer.  The  climax  of  action 
shows  a  double  defeat  for  the  woman.  The  husband  is 
the  connecting  link,  as  he  is  the  third  figure  in  the  tri- 
angle story,  and  is  the  partisan  of  the  cat  in  the  other 
line  of  interest. 

Initial  Impulse:  Sally  throws  the  stick  of  wood 
at  the  cat.  Outward  indication  of  latent  animosity. 
Steps  in  the  Action:  Sally  promises  her  lover  to 
meet  him  at  midnight.  She  prepares  the  liquor- 
trap.  She  hears  of  the  big  snake.  She  insists  that 
the  cat  be  killed.  Jim  refuses.  He  orders  her  to 
lay  the  mattress  in  the  "  dog-trot."  She  sets  the 
liquor-trap.  Jim,  caught,  drinks  a  toast  to  the  cat. 
Sally  lies  waiting  for  midnight. 

Dramatic  Climax:    The  cat  finds  the  snake-head. 
It  passes  the  bed.     Sally  mutters  and  strikes  out  in 
her  sleep.     The  cat  drops  the  snake-head. 
Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:    Few,  but 
89 


90    HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

significant.  Sally  wakes,  raises  herself  on  her  right 
palm;  her  wrist  meets  the  fangs  of  the  rattler;  in 
agony  she  tries  to  wake  Jim  for  help,  but  he  lies 
in  a  drunken  stupor.  Meantime,  the  young  en- 
gineer who  has  waited  long,  now  sets  out  to  recon- 
noitre. He  makes  his  way  toward  the  cabin. 

Denouement:  In  it  is  bound  up  the  climax  of 
action  which  has,  in  part,  already  occurred  in  Sally's 
death.  The  engineer  sees  the  dead  woman,  the 
drunken  man,  and  the  purring  cat.  He  flees. 

Apart  from  the  clever  workmanship  of  the  plot 
construction,  what  examples  of  poetic  justice  do  you 
find? 

Was  it  fate,  chance,  or  tactics  of  hate  which  caused 
the  cat  to  drop  the  snake-head? 

CHARACTERIZATION.  In  a  story  of  plot  prominence, 
the  characters  need  less  individualization.  Are  these,  in 
your  opinion,  types  or  individuals?  Which  is  the  best 
drawn?  Which  the  least  convincing?  How  does  Sally, 
early  in  the  action,  forfeit  your  sympathy? 

DETAILS.  How  is  Jim's  love  for  liquor  (a  hinge  on 
which  the  plot  is  made  to  turn)  prepared  for  early  in 
the  action? 

How  does  the  manner  of  the  cat's  disposition  of  the 
fish-head  make  logical  its  subsequent  interest  in  the 
snake-head  ? 

What  intensifying  value  has  the  "  sad,  gray  moss  "  ? 

What  effect  has  Sally's  second  encounter  with  the  cat? 

Study  the  naturalness,  the  dramatic  development,  and 
the  enriching  quality  of  the  scene  wherein  the  rattle- 
snake is  discussed.  How  does  it  make  plausible,  also, 
the  fact  that  the  cat  found  the  snake-head  ? 

What  contribution  is  made  to  the  final  effect  in  Jim's 
toast  to  the  cat? 

What  do  you  think  of  the  final  sentence  by  way  of  con- 
clusion ? 

What  is  the  length  of  the  action? 


THE  CAT  OF  THE  CANE-BRAKE         91 

This  story,  the  first  Mr.  Greene  wrote,  after  taking 
up  the  study  of  story  technique,  is  particularly  excellent 
for  showing  early  recognition  of  plot  demands.  If  its 
structure  is,  on  investigation,  a  trifle  obvious,  it  will  be 
all  the  better  for  the  student's  purpose.  On  comparing 
it  with  later  stories  by  the  same  author,  he  will  find  that 
growth  which  means  ability  to  conce-al  mechanism  —  or 
to  forget  it  altogether. 

The  student  needing  exercise  in  plot  construction 
should  read  Captain  Greene's  "  Molly  McGuire,  Four- 
teen "  (Century,  September,  1917;  also  reprinted  in  "A 
Book  of  Short  Stories,"  edited  by  Blanche  Colton 
Williams),  and  should  study  his  diagram  of  the  lines  of 
interest  and  their  complications  (See  "A  Handbook  on 
Story  Writing,"  by  Blanche  Colton  Williams,  page  94). 


THE  BUNKER  MOUSE 

CONDITIONS  WHICH  PRECEDED  COMPOSITION.  First, 
Mr.  Greene's  profession  —  that  of  engineer;  second,  an 
acquaintanceship  with  two  Irishmen  having  character- 
istics which  suggested  Larry  and  Dan ;  third,  several 
hours  in  the  hold  of  a  freighter,  immediately  before  writ- 
ing the  narrative,  on  a  voyage  down  the  Eastern  Coast. 
PLOT. 

The  Struggle:  This  story  is  one  of  the  best  in 
the  collections  for  exemplifying  the  struggle  ele- 
ment. There  are  two  main  conflicts :  that  between 
Dan  and  Larry,  and  the  struggle  between  man's  wit 
and  power  against  the  fury  of  the  elements. 

Initial  Incident:  What  is  the  impulse  that  sets 
the  story  in  action? 

Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  Mark  the 
principal  stages  toward  the  turning  point  in  the 
action.  Is  the  struggle  against  the  storm  or  the  one 
between  Dan  and  Larry  the  prevailing  interest? 

Dramatic  Climax:  Observe  the  proximity  of  the 
two  turning  points.  Page  299,  "  the  first  hope 
came  .  .  .  there  was  a  '  feel '  .  .  .  that  ribs  and 
beams  and  rivets  were  not  so  near  the  breaking- 
point."  And  page  300,  "  Larry  had  fallen ! " 
Show  that  each  event  is  the  dramatic  climax,  for 
the  individual  lines,  and  that  the  close  succession 
means  an  increased  dramatic  effect  for  the  whole 
narrative. 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:    Name  the 
important    stages,    observing   that    the    author    has 
achieved  a  master-stroke  in  his  moment  of  ease. 
92 


THE  BUNKER  MOUSE  93 

After  the  hardship  of  the  struggle,  comes  the  period 
of  rest.  See  page  305,  "  At  five  o'clock  a  Port  Eads 
pilot  climbed  over  the  side,"  etc. 

Denouement:  The  denouement  reveals  a  rela- 
tionship which  may  be,  or  not  be,  a  surprise  to  the 
reader.  Does  it  matter  whether  the  surprise  exists  ? 
To  what  conclusion  does  your  answer  point  in  re- 
gard to  the  value  of  a  "  surprise  ending  "  ? 

Is  the  denouement  satisfactory? 

Did  you  learn  from  the  clues  in  the  first  scene, 
between  Larry  and  Mary,  more  than  the  author  in- 
tended ? 

Wherein  do  you  find  the  preparation  for  the  acci- 
dent which  does  for  Larry?  (See  pages  289  and 
290.) 

What  is  the  worth  of  the  minor  climax,  page  295, 
where  the  two  struggles  reach  corresponding 
points  ? 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Make  note  of  all  the  devices  and 
methods  by  which  the  author  draws  sympathy  to  Larry. 
Show  that  the  emotional  reaction  you  experience  arises 
directly  from  the  concept  of  his  character  and  his  acts. 

What  are  the  dominant  traits  of  Dan?  What  is  the 
purpose  of  the  scene  wherein  Dan  knocks  out  the 
stoker  ? 

Originally,  Mr.  Greene  called  his  character,  Dan,  by 
the  name  of  Mike.  Why  did  he  accept  the  advised 
change  ? 

Is  the  personality  of  Mary  properly  subdued?  prop- 
erly elevated?  In  connection  with  your  answer,  notice 
the  value  of  having  her  introduced  early  in  the  action. 

Who  are  the  background  characters?  Do  they  usurp 
too  much  of  your  interest  ? 

DETAILS.     What  is  the  length  of  the  action? 

Is  the  business  on  pages  297  and  298  too  technical 
for  a  layman's  comprehension?  If  so,  can  one,  never- 
theless, apprehend  sufficiently  to  derive  pleasure  from  the 


94     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

recountal?  To  what  effect  do  the  various  mechanical 
appliances  and  parts  contribute  ? 

Study  all  the  details  by  which  Mr.  Greene  has  con- 
veyed the  feeling  of  the  big  storm.  Where  is  the  first 
preparation  for  the  fact  that  the  incidents  of  this  story 
will  be  connected  with  the  time  of  the  Galveston  Flood? 

How  did  Larry  receive  the  appellation  of  The  Bunker 
Mouse?  Why  is  the  episode  told  out  of  its  chronological 
place?  Are  any  other  important  incidents  presented  out 
of  their  time  order? 

From  whose  angle  is  the  story  told? 

Intensifying  worth  of  the  sentence? — "  So's  a  trout; 
but  it's  got  a  damn  poor  show  against  a  shark  "  (page 

289). 

Reason  for  this  statement  of  the  author? — "  I  wanted 
to  say  that  Dan  purred  like  a  tiger,  but  it  was  a  jungle 
figure,  and  of  course  I  had  to  give  it  up." 

Point  out  instances  of  the  author's  keeping  the  reader 
aware  of  locality. 

Show  how  the  mood  or  feeling  is  harmonized  with  the 
plot,  which  is  itself  one  of  complication  wherein  the 
stages  of  the  two  main  struggles  are  kept  beautifully 
parallel. 


WHOSE  DOG—? 

CLASSIFICATION.  This  seven  or  eight  hundred  word 
short-story  illustrates  the  extreme  type.  The  setting  is 
the  end  of  a  pier;  the  time,  only  a  few  minutes;  the 
action  represents  a  crisis  in  the  life  of  one  character, 
the  village  drunkard;  the  struggle  —  which  culminates 
in  the  suicide  of  the  drunkard  —  is  between  him  and 
society.  The  unities  are,  therefore,  well  conserved;  the 
singleness  of  effect  is  pronounced.  It  is  a  tour  de  force 
in  its  manipulation  of  story  elements. 

Is  the  motivation  for  John's  suicide  sufficient? 

What  social  relation  does  the  policeman  bear  to  the 
drunkard?  What  contrast  does  the  author  employ? 

THEMATIC  VALUE.  Society  is  not  arraigned:  a  case 
is  posed.  Has  it  propaganda  value? 


95 


MAKING  PORT 

COMMENT.  A  capital  example  of  a  short-story  built 
on  two  lines  of  interest  neatly  joined.  One  line  arises 
from  the  desire  of  Old  Tom  to  reach  Liverpool;  it  il- 
lustrates a  passive  struggle  between  wishing  and  wait- 
ing on  the  one  hand,  and  fate  or  chance  on  the  other. 
The  second  line  arises  from  the  situation  of  Spike's 
being  in  prison,  a  situation  motivated  or  brought  about 
by  the  physical  struggle  between  Spike  and  the  bo'sun, 
and  is  marked  by  Spike's  attempt  to  escape.  The  two 
lines  are  connected  by  the  fact  that  Tom  has  a  queer 
animosity  for  Spike,  and  that  he  is  made  the  guardian 
of  Spike.  Old  Tom's  relation  to  his  wife  offers  a 
parallel  to  the  relation  between  Spike  and  the  mission 
girl.  Old  Tom  is  unsuccessful,  ironically  so;  Spike 
escapes. 

Is  the  motivation  for  Tom's  surrendering  the  keys  of 
Spike's  prison  strong  enough?    What  is  it? 
PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:  Spike  kills  the  bo'sun. 
Steps  to  Dramatic  Climax:  Spike  is  chained  in 
the  locker.  Tom  is  given  the  key.  Tom  is  tempted 
to  give  up  the  key.  He  refuses,  hearing  that  the 
ship  will  go  on  to  Liverpool,  knowing  moreover 
that  if  he  betrays  his  duty  his  chance  will  be  lost. 
After  four  months  the  ship  comes  to  anchor. 
Meantime  Spike  has  filed  his  chains.  The  girl 
comes  on  board.  She  beseeches  Old  Tom  to  let  him 

g°- 

Dramatic  Climax:    "  Take  him." 
Steps  to  Climax  of  Action:    The  escape  in  the 
96 


MAKING  PORT  97 

mission    boat    to    the    tramp    steamer.     Spike    gets 
aboard. 

Denouement:  Tom  must  remain  here.  Irony  in 
the  understanding  that  the  tramp  is  bound  for 
Liverpool. 

PRESENTATION.  Who  tells  the  story?  Has  he  any 
part  in  the  action?  How  does  the  narrator  bridge  over 
the  long  passage  so  as  to  secure  emphasis  on  the  story 
action  ? 

CHARACTERIZATION.  How  many  times  does  the  nar- 
rator refer  to  Old  Tom's  scratching  his  ribs?  Is  the 
repetition  of  an  act,  emphasis  on  a  habit,  a  sound  method 
of  character  delineation  ?  Is  it  too  "  easy  "  ? 

What  idea  do  you  form  of  Tom  from  his  speeches? 

How  does  his  animosity  to  Spike  serve  to  portray 
him? 

By  what  means  does  the  narrator  elicit  from  the  reader 
sympathy  for  Spike?  How  does  he  hold  it? 

Study  the  picture  and  the  character  of  the  mission 
girl. 

ATMOSPHERE.  Try  to  define  the  mood  or  feeling  of 
the  narrative.  What  influence  has  Fate  in  creating  the 
atmosphere?  Study  the  contribution  toward  the  atmos- 
phere in  the  dramatic  forecast  on  page  165.  How  is 
this  forecast  properly  subdued?  Has  the  superstition 
of  sailors  a  dramatic  value?  How  is  the  setting  made 
contributory  to  the  atmosphere? 


RAINBOW  PETE 

SETTING.  Mushrat  Portage.  The  setting  is  of  un- 
usual importance,  since  nowhere  else,  probably,  would 
the  action  be  possible. 

CHARACTERS.     The    woman    employed    at    Scarecrow 
Charlie's;   Rainbow   Pete;   Pal  Yachy;   minor  persons. 
Who  is  the  narrator?    Has  he  an  acting  part  in  the 
story  ? 
PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:  Rainbow  Pete  and  the  woman 
are  married. 

Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  Mushrat  is 
disappointed  at  Pete's  silence.  He  goes  away, 
after  a  time,  to  the  North,  "  dreaming  of  gold."  The 
woman,  his  wife,  becomes  head  of  Charlie's  estab- 
lishment. The  town  booms.  Pal  Yachy  arrives. 
He  sings.  Pete's  wife  lured  by  the  voice  fears  she 
may  be  untrue  to  Pete  if  he  does  not  hasten  to  re- 
turn. Pal  Yachy  offers  a  prize  for  the  first  child 
born  on  Mushrat. 

Dramatic  Climax:  Pete  returns.  (See  the  scene 
in  the  eating  place. ) 

Steps  to  Denouement:  He  hears  Pal  Yachy 
singing  to  his  wife.  Outside  of  the  cabin,  he  sees 
the  singer  near  his  wife,  with  the  gold  prize.  The 
wife  of  Pete  flings  the  gold  clear  of  the  bed.  Pete 
enters;  throws  out  Pal  Yachy,  and  the  gold  after 
.  him. 

Denouement:  Pete  discovers  his  son.  Pal 
Yachy  goes,  leaving  the  family  united. 

DETAILS.    Does  the  explanation  of  Rainbow  Pete's 

98 


RAINBOW  PETE  99 

name  tie  itself  up  with  a  clue  to  the  final  action?  (See 
page  310.) 

Study  the  story  for  the  musical  effects:  Pete's  flute, 
Pal  Yachy's  singing. 

Is  there  a  resemblance  in  any  way  to  the  opera,  "  Pag- 
liacci "  ?  Is  the  result  of  the  voice  similar  to  the  effect 
of  Chautonville's  singing?  Are  there  other  instances 
of  the  power  of  music  superior  to  the  one  of  the  sirens? 

What  suggestion  is  bound  up  with  the  idea,  "  Gold 
lies  at  the  foot  of  the  rainbow"?  Has  the  author 
handled  it  skillfully? 

Compare  this  story  with  film  productions,  which  you 
have  doubtless  seen,  of  the  North  Country.  Wherein 
lies  the  popular  success  of  such  photoplays  as  those  in 
which  William  S.  Hart  appears? 

With  Rainbow  Pete's  point  of  vantage  outside  his 
cabin,  compare  that  which  the  narrator  enjoys  in  "  Ching, 
Ching,  Chinaman,"  when  he  looks  under  the  window- 
shade  into  the  room  (Page  455,  Yearbook,  1917).  Has 
Ommirandy  a  similar  good  post  ?  ( See  "  The  Silent 
Infare.")  Find  other  instances.  What  contribution 
does  such  a  physical  point  of  view  make  toward  the 
vividness  of  the  picture? 


LIFE 

COMMENT.  A  student  of  the  present  critic  made  this 
comment  on  "  Life."  Do  you  agree  with  it?  — "  The  op- 
posing forces  are  the  man's  desire  to  know  the  meaning 
of  life,  and  the  darkness  of  his  vision.  It  is  hard  to  say 
which  force  wins.  For  though  he  does  not  discover  the 
meaning  of  life,  he  discovers  a  simile  sufficiently  revolt- 
ing to  suit  his  mood.  ...  It  is  really  a  single  incident, 
made  worthy  of  expansion  by  its  significance  and  symbol- 
ism." .  .  . 

Get  the  final  implication  which  completes  the  story. 
In  short,  what  is  the  final  sentence  when  rounded  out? 

Read  "  The  Workman,"  by  Lord  Dunsany  (in 
"Fifty-one  Tales")  and  compare  it  with  this  narrative 
for  atmosphere  and  philosophy. 


100 


THE  FATHER'S  HAND 

GERMINAL  IDEA.  "What  started  'The  Father's 
Hand'  was  the  quotation  from  the  fifth,  no,  the  sixth, 
book  of  the 


Bis  conatus  erat  casus  effingere  in  auro 
Bis  patrice  cecidere  manus. 

I  happened  to  have  been  reading  it  the  day  before. 
Then  I  could  not  go  to  sleep  the  next  night,  and  it  oc- 
curred to  me  that  the  lines  were  perhaps  the  most  touch- 
ing I  knew,  and  that  they  were  an  example  of  the  mod- 
ernity or  rather  the  timelessness  of  all  art.  Then  I  tried 
to  imagine  a  situation  today  that  they  would  fit,  and  the 
whole  story  was  worked  out  before  morning.  My  own 
reaction  about  it  is  that  I  have  stolen  Vergil's  thunder."  — 
George  Humphrey. 
PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:  In  the  first  few  months  of  the 
war  there  comes  to  a  small  English  village  a  refugee 
from  Alsace-Lorraine,  a  monument  carver. 

Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  He  refuses 
to  go  into  shelter  from  the  frequent  air-raids  and 
learns  from  watching  the  planes  that  they  pass  a 
certain  point  before  turning  toward  London. 

Dramatic  Climax:  Acting  upon  his  information 
the  gunners  bring  down  a  German  plane. 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:  The  carver 
finds  himself  a  hero.  It  is  decided  to  erect  a  tomb- 
stone over  the  dead  aviator,  with  the  inscription 
'*  Here  lies  a  fallen  German."  The  stone-cutter  is 
deputed  to  carve  the  inscription.  The  relics  of  the 
101 


102     KOVv  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

/aid  are  exposed  for  view  in  the  little  museum.  The 
personal  effects  of  the  aviator  consist  largely  of  a 
young,  fair-haired  woman  — "  Meine  Mutter."  The 
stone-cutter  goes  out  to  buy  a  chisel  and  to  visit  the 
museum.  On  his  return  he  seems  ill  but  goes  to 
work  on  the  inscription. 

Climax  of  Action:  He  dies  before  completing  the 
epitaph. 

Denouement:  The  dead  aviator  was  his  son,  as 
the  picture  had  revealed  to  him,  and  as  the  unfin- 
ished inscription,  "  Bis  patriae  m  — ,"  revealed  to  the 
Dean. 

PRESENTATION.  Mr.  Humphrey  has  seen  fit  to  present 
this  tale  as  a  rehearsed  one.  In  so  doing,  he  has  secured 
mellowness  —  consistent  with  utmost  economy,  sympathy 
for  the  stone-cutter,  and  an  excellent  apology  for  the 
Latin  phrases.  He  evidently  had  in  mind,  whether  at 
the  beginning  or  later,  the  resemblance  between  a  fallen 
aviator  and  the  luckless  Icarus.  To  emphasize  the  rela- 
tion, he  needed  to  requisition  classical  atmosphere  as  well 
as  classical  fact.  This  he  has  accomplished  through  the 
stone-cutter's  interest  in  "  Phoenix-Latin,"  and  the  Ox- 
ford Dean,  who  lectures  on  Latin  poetry. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  The  reserve  of  the  refugee  stone- 
cutter is  used  to  advantage  in  conserving  economy  and  in 
suggesting  facts,  rather  than  stating  them,  to  the  reader. 
The  Frenchman  tells  almost  nothing  of  his  past  life,  of 
which  much  is  nevertheless  revealed  through  the  illumi- 
nating high  lights  of  the  action. 

SETTING.  Why  is  an  indefinite  English  village  the  best 
locale  ? 


T.  B. 

GENERAL.  Fannie  Hurst  is  represented  in  three  col- 
lections of  "  The  Best  Short  Stories."  The  reason  lies 
in  the  facts  that  she  is  one  of  the  skilled  technicians  of 
the  time,  one  of  the  hardest  workers  —  sparing  no  pains 
to  achieve  that  sound  structure  and  perfection  of  detail 
which  only  the  seasoned  artist  knows  how  to  achieve; 
that  by  narrative,  which  stands  without  emphasis  of  di- 
dactic or  propaganda  purpose,  she  yet  manages  to  convey 
an  idea  much  larger  than  the  story  itself,  and  that  she 
has  quite  literally  created  a  unique  world  of  men  and 
women  who  nevertheless  in  their  behavior  reflect  a  part 
of  the  myriad-minded  and  many-mooded  contemporary 
life.  Any  one  of  the  present  stories  will  prove  the  truth 
of  this  assertion. 

STARTING  POINT  OF  "  T.  B."     "  The  flint  that  struck 
spark  for  *  T.  B/,"  says  Miss  Hurst,  "  was  the  sight  of 
a  humpy  looking  girl  standing  before  the  window  dis- 
play of  a  Tuberculosis  exhibit." 
PLOT. 

Initial  Impulse:  Sara  Juke  faints  at  the  Hi- 
bernian Hop.  How  is  this  event  prepared  for  in 
the  finally  developed  story? 

Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  Sara  and 
Charley  leave  the  hall.  This  stage  is  succeeded  by 
others  preparing  for  the  counter-play  and  empha- 
sizing the  T.  B.  motif.  They  see  the  Tubercu- 
losis exhibit,  and  visit  it.  The  pink- faced  young  at- 
tendant gives  Sara  a  circular.  Sara  fears  the  dis- 
ease. She  revisits  the  display.  The  attendant,  Ed- 
die Blaney,  shows  his  interest,  advising  her  to  go  to 
a  clinic  for  examination.  At  Sharkey's  Sara  tells 
103 


104     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

Charley  the  doctor's  verdict.  What  obvious  steps 
in  the  action  has  the  author  omitted,  thus  giving  the 
reader  the  chance  to  help  in  constructing  the  story? 

Dramatic  Climax:  Charley  leaves  Sara.  (This 
climax  is,  of  course,  intensified  by  its  juxtaposition 
to  the  doctor's  verdict;  in  fact,  the  two  details  to- 
gether may  be  regarded  as  a  double  climax.  Miss 
Hurst  is  one  of  the  best  authors  to  study  for  dupli- 
cation of  dramatic  climax  effect.  See  also,  for  ex- 
ample, "  Ice  Water.") 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:  Eddie 
Blaney  meets  Sara  and  takes  her  to  the  country. 
(Has  this  step  been  prepared  for  duly?  Why  is  it 
one  not  left  to  the  reader's  imagination  —  that  is, 
the  engagement  made  previously?)  Eddie  encour- 
ages Sara,  telling  her  she  will  be  well  by  Christmas. 

Climax  of  Action:  (Deduced  by  reader.) 
How  has  Miss  Hurst  in  the  developed  story  sug- 
gested the  inevitable  ending  ? 

CHARACTERS.  By  what  speeches  and  acts  does  the 
author  flash  the  personality  of  Sara?  By  which  ones 
in  particular  does  she  draw  the  reader's  sympathy  to 
her?  How  is  Hattie  Krakow  used  to  emphasize  the 
appeal  of  Sara  ?  What  other  purpose  does  Hattie  serve  ? 
How  is  her  interest  in  Sara  motivated?  How  far  is 
Charley  one  of  a  type?  To  what  extent  individualized? 
Is  the  type  or  the  individual  more  necessary  to  the  au- 
thor's purpose  here?  How  does  Charley's  treatment  of 
Sara  enhance  the  reader's  interest?  How  is  Blaney's 
solicitude  for  the  girl  motivated?  Do  the  three  char- 
acters constitute  the  three  figures  of  a  "triangle  "  story? 
If  so,  is  the  triangle  one  of  distinctly  new  features? 

SETTING.  How  many  times  does  the  scene  change? 
How  is  contrast  employed  in  the  construction  of  set- 
tings? Does  the  change  in  scene  conform  to  the  plot 
action?  Has  this  relationship  a  necessary  unifying 
value?  What  is  the  time  of  the  story? 


T.  B.  105 

DETAILS.  How  much  space  does  the  author  consume 
before  gliding  into  the  introduction  of  character  and  set- 
ting? What  is  its  worth?  A  student  once  asked  Miss 
Hurst  why  she  chose  such  openings,  suggesting  that 
quite  frequently  the  reader  found  it  difficult  to  see  the 
connection.  Miss  Hurst  smilingly  replied  that  it  was 
her  idiosyncrasy.  "That's  where  Ptake  my  fling."  Is 
there  more  back  of  her  words  than  her  modesty  allowed 
her  to  assert?  What  is  the  real  contribution  made  by 
page  84? 

What  are  the  principal  features  of  the  economy  by 
which  she  presents  to  the  reader  the  opening  situation  ? 

Note  the  many  details  by  which  throughout  the 
story  the  author  keeps  vividly  before  the  reader  the 
actual  setting.  Although  her  method  is  that  of  the  ro- 
manticist, her  result  is  one  of  reality.  In  listing  these 
details,  notice  that  another  purpose  is  also  effected  — 
another  economical  device.  "  On  a  morning  when  the 
white-goods  counter  was  placing  long-sleeve,  high-neck 
nightgowns  in  its  bargain  bins,"  page  85,  conveys  the 
season,  better  than  statement  could  do  (because  more 
picturesquely)  at  the  same  time  it  builds  up  the  scene. 

How  has  the  author  enriched  the  main  narrative  by 
contrast  with  lightly  suggested  situations?  (See  the 
Van  Ness  passages.) 

Study  the  narrative  for  sounds  and  odors  as  well  as 
for  pictures.  Contribution  to  vividness  of  reality? 
What  contrasts  do  you  find  in  these  sense  appeals? 

How  does  Miss  Hurst  make  most  of  her  transitions 
in  time  and  place?  Is  the  double  space  well  used? 
What  is  the  acting  time  of  the  story? 

From  whose  angle  of  narration  is  it  told?  Is  there 
a  shift  from  the  objective  to  the  omniscient  point  of 
view?  If  so,  is  it  justified  by  a  gain? 


'ICE  WATER,  PL—!' 

STARTING  POINT.  According  to  Miss  Hurst,  "  Ice 
Water,  PI  — !"  had  its  germinal  beginnings  in  the  self- 
imposed  query:  Given,  a  mother  whose  joys  are 
largely  the  vicarious  ones  that  come  through  her  daugh- 
ter, to  what  extent  can  her  own  personal  life  become 
more  and  more  submerged? 

SETTING.  The  locale  of  this  story  is  the  same  as  that 
of  "  T.  B."  Point  out  evidence,  explicit  or  implicit,  of 
its  being  New  York  City.  In  general,  notice  that  the 
larger  setting  of  Miss  Hurst's  stories  is  frequently  St. 
Louis  or  New  York.  Account  for  this  fact.  How  long 
is  the  action  of  "  Ice  Water,  PI  — !  "? 

PLOT.  The  initial  impulse,  the  force  that  sets  the 
story-action  going,  is  Mr.  Vetsburg's  invitation  to  Mrs. 
Kaufman  and  Ruby  to  "  come  down  to  Atlantic  City 
over  Easter."  (Fill  in  the  important  steps  toward  the 
dramatic  climax.)  The  dramatic  climax  is  a  double 
header:  First,  Ruby  accedes,  after  a  struggle,  to  her 
Mother's  wishes  that  she  accept  Mr.  Vetsburg.  Sec- 
ond, Mrs.  Kaufman  gives  in  to  Ruby's  marrying  Leo. 
By  this  clever  duplication,  not  only  is  the  turning  point 
made  more  emphatic,  but  the  sympathy  of  the  reader 
is  evoked  for  both  mother  and  daughter.  It  is  another 
excellent  instance  of  economy  joined  to  strength. 

The  climax  of  action  follows  without  much  delay: 
It  is  bound  up  with  the  denouement,  since  in  it  Mrs. 
Kaufman  learns  that  it  is  herself  —  not  her  daughter  — 
whom  Vetsburg  loves. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  What  is  Mrs.  Kaufman's  out- 
standing trait?  Ruby's?  Vetsburg's?  Is  Mrs.  Kauf- 
man's dominant  characteristic  logically  connected  with 

106 


"  ICE  WATER,  PL  — ! "  107 

her  capability  as  a  boarding-house  keeper?  Are  the 
two  so  portrayed  as  to  make  satisfactory  the  denoue- 
ment, by  which  Mrs.  Kaufman  will  be  married  to  Mr. 
Vetsburg?  What  preparation  leads  to  the  happy  out- 
come? 

How  is  Ruby  akin  to  her  sisters,  Sara  Juke  and  Se- 
lene Coblenz?  How  is  she  differentiated?  Is  the  in- 
dividualization  stronger  than  the  type  resemblance? 

Close  your  eyes  after  finishing  the  story  and  call  up 
images  of  the  two  main  women  characters  and  of  Vets- 
burg.  Go  over  the  narrative  and  see  how  the  author  has 
given  you  these  pictures,  and  also  observe  how  accurately 
you  have  registered  the  impressions.  If  there  are  dis- 
crepancies between  your  memory  and  the  presentation, 
whose  fault  is  it? 

What  purposes  are  fulfilled  by  the  background  fig- 
ures? Recall  instances  of  humor  to  which  they  con- 
tribute. Have  you  ever  met  Irving  Katz? 

Why  is  Leo  so  slightly  touched?  Do  you  notice  other 
measures  taken  to  keep  in  the  foreground  the  middle- 
aged  pair?  What  are  they? 

DETAILS.  What  popular  attitude  does  the  philosophy 
of  page  181  subtly  criticize?  What  is  the  link  which 
connects  the  generalizing  preliminary  with  the  particular 
instance?  (Notice  that  the  slide  is  effected  on  the 
towels.) 

Where  is  the  first  scene  laid? 

Who,  in  the  first  scene,  reveals  most  of  the  situation  to 
the  reader? 

Page  187  contains  an  important  clue  to  the  subsequent 
action.  What  is  it? 

What  is  the  purpose  of  the  next  fully  developed  scene 
(in  Mrs.  Kaufman's  apartment)  ? 

What  is  the  purpose  of  the  continuation  of  the  scene 
(after  Vetsy's  exit,  page  194)  ?  Does  the  division  into 
two  parts  (before  and  after  the  women  retired)  con- 
tribute to  more  than  an  impression  of  reality? 

Study   the   transition   between   the   night   scene   and 


io8     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

eleven  o'clock  the  next  morning.  What  value  has  the 
paragraph  (page  205)  beginning  "At  eleven"? 

How  does  the  author  effect  the  return  of  Vetsburg 
and  Mrs.  Kaufman  to  the  apartment?  How  is  Ruby 
disposed  of?  (See  page  107,  "Down  by  Gimp's  I  sent 
her/'  etc.). 

Miss  Hurst  is  an  expert  scene-developer.  Her  set- 
ting is  clear;  her  characters  move  as  they  move  in  real 
life;  the  action  is  in  the  right  tempo  for  the  conditions 
and  the  time  at  hand;  no  scene  exists  without  a  definite 
purpose.  It  is  the  fine  scene-work  which  gives  to  her 
stories  a  dramatic  quality  equalled  only  by  that  of  the 
stage. 

Compare  the  scene  work  of  this  story  with  that  of  "  T. 
B."  and  of  "  Get  Ready  the  Wreaths." 

Has  the  Easter  season  a  contributory  significance? 


GET  READY  THE  WREATHS 

GERMINAL  IDEA.  "  '  Get  Ready  the  Wreaths  '  was,  of 
course,  inspired  by  the  overwhelming  drama  of  the  Rus- 
sian Revolution  and  my  own  feeling  that  even  Siberia 
had  at  last  been  justified." — Fannie  Hurst. 

ANALYSIS.  The  predominating  interest  and  hence 
line  of  action,  since  it  composes  a  line  of  action,  is 
Mrs.  Horowitz's  desire,  struggle,  to  return  to  Russia. 
This  struggle  has  been  going  on  for  years ;  it  has  its  roots 
and  beginnings  in  the  past.  Alone  it  would  not  make  a 
short-story;  for  the  conflict  is  too  level,  too  empty  of 
actual  event. 

The  beginning  of  the  complication  is  the  engagement 
of  Selene  Coblenz,  her  love  affair  constituting  the  sec- 
ond line  of  interest.  This  is  the  truly  complicating  line, 
although  there  is  also  a  third  line  of  interest,  properly 
subdued.  It  enters  as  a  factor,  first,  in  the  first  line. 
Mark  Haas  shows  his  interest  in  Mrs.  Coblenz  by  offer- 
ing to  arrange  for  her  the  details  of  the  Siberian  journey. 
For  a  long  time  this  interest  exists,  seemingly,  only  as  a 
means  for  developing  the  main  struggle :  there  is  an  en- 
tire amalgamation  of  the  two  interests.  (See  e.  g.,  page 
342,  "  Mark  Haas  is  going  to  fix  it  for  me,"  etc.). 

Selene  Coblenz's  request  brings  on  the  immediate 
struggle.  It  is  only  a  step,  however,  in  Mrs.  Horowitz's 
long  fight  to  get  back.  It  turns  out  to  be  not  a  deciding 
step,  but  one  in  complication.  See  that  by  considering 
the  old  lady's  struggle  and  the  daughter's  mental  anguish, 
Shila's  search  for  ways  and  means  starts  from  it,  rather 
than  is  decided  by  it.  There  is  no  specific  struggle  after 
it,  only  a  complication  waiting  to  be  solved.  Mrs.  Cob- 
leriz  could  not  have  started  for  Russia  until  after  the 

109 


no     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

reception,  anyway.  If  Mrs.  Horowitz  had  lived,  she 
could  have  gone.  Nothing  is  determined  by  this  minor 
climax :  much  mental  trouble  starts  from  it  for  Shila. 
It  simply  advances  events  to  a  state,  where  at  a  later 
moment  they  will  need  a  struggle  and  a  decision. 

But  for  another  reason  this  decision  of  Mrs.  Coblenz's 
is  a  big  crisis,  though  not  the  big  plot  crisis;  especially 
is  this  true  if  you  regard  the  story  as  a  character  story. 
Shila's  devotion  to  her  mother:  her  devotion  to  her 
daughter  —  which  will  win?  Will  her  sense  of  duty 
triumph  over  her  indulgence?  The  girl's  reasoning,  the 
impracticability  of  her  mother's  desire  assist  to  "  play 
up  "  the  struggle.  Selene  is  dominant  with  Shila.  She 
is  a  great-hearted  woman,  but  she  has  a  weakness.  If 
she  had  not  had,  Selene  might  have  been  a  less  self- 
centred  girl. 

With  the  news  of  the  reception  evening,  the  three 
lines  of  interest  come  together;  the  high  point  of  the 
complication  is  reached.  There  is  a  momentary  crisis 
for  Mrs.  Coblenz.  Her  mother  can  go  back  to  Russia 
now ;  she  will  insist.  Selene's  line  enters  as  an  accom- 
plished fact  to  prevent :  It  helps  with  the  other  to  com- 
pose a  crisis  here.  The  third  line  is  present  as  a  factor 
to  assist:  But  Mrs.  Coblenz  is  blind  to  it:  it  is  a  sus- 
pended resource. 

If,  as  you  might  have  expected,  the  writer  had  de- 
rived her  solution  from  that  line,  she  would  have  done 
the  obvious  thing.  Also  she  would  have  made  Shila's 
escape  from  her  weakness,  easy.  And,  last  of  all,  she 
would  have  finished  a  struggle  which  had  its  derivation 
in  blood  and  sacrifice  with  a  conclusion  too  quiet  and 
unheroic. 

The  author  did  what  technically  might  have  been  a 
very  bad  thing.  To  get  your  solution  out  of  a  physical 
or  natural  stroke,  by  sudden  illness  or  an  accident  of 
nature,  is  equivalent  to  using  a  god  from  the  machine, 
—  a  charge  often  laid  at  the  feet  of  Euripides.  But. 
here  the  death  is  so  logical  a  consequence  —  so  well  pre- 


GET  READY  THE  WREATHS  in 

pared  for  —  that  you  cannot  quarrel  with  it.  And  there 
is  a  heroic  touch  in  having  Mrs.  Horowitz  die  beneath 
her  tremendous  recollection  and  appreciation  of  all  the 
triumph  had  cost.  The  outcome  is  satisfying:  she  died 
in  a  high  moment.  Shila  is  not  too  much  to  blame,  and 
consolation  for  her  is  at  hand.  And  Selene,  being  right 
from  her  angle  of  youth  and  life,  is  both  happy  and  suf- 
ficiently rebuked. 

The  story,  then,  has  both  an  opposing  and  an  assisting 
line.  The  climax  at  which  all  meet  and  the  forces  balance 
is  the  Revolution  news.  It  is  not  the  deciding  moment 
in  the  Selene  story:  that  is  over. 

The  emotional  effect  of  this  story  represents  in  a  high 
degree  one  of  the  author's  best  achievements.  Her 
stories  are  notable  for  their  human  appeal.  One  man 
went  so  far  as  to  state  to  the  present  critic  that  he  would 
willingly  have  bartered  his  soul  to  enable  that  old  lady 
to  go  back  to  Russia.  Study  all  the  ways  by  which  she 
reaches  your  sympathy. 

GENERAL  METHODS.  "  Almost  invariably  my  plots 
emerge  from  characters,  rather  than  characters  from 
plots.  I  doubt  if  this  latter  is  ever  as  sound  in  method 
except  in  the  detective  or  picaresque  story. 

"  I  have  never  based  a  short  story  upon  a  concrete  in- 
cident, written  a  character  directly  from  '  life/  or,  except 
rarely,  incorporated  a  speech  actually  heard  into  dia- 
logue. 

"  A  situation  may  suggest  the  beginnings  of  a  story,  or 
a  chance  word  be  the  seed  of  an  idea,  but  most  often  I 
find  myself  puttering  around  the  hypothetical  psychol- 
ogy of  folks.  .  .  . 

".  .  .  Unity  of  Effect,  no  matter  how  the  unities  must 
be  smashed  to  attain  it,  I  consider  the  corner  stone  of 
short-story  writing.  Without  it,  architectural  beauty 
and  continuity  of  development  are  impossible.  .  .  ." 

—  Fannie  Hurst. 


MR.  EBERDEEN'S  HOUSE 

STARTING  POINT  AND  FIRST  PROCESSES.  "  Mr.  Eber- 
deen's  House  "  was  to  have  been  originally  only  the  effect 
of  an  old  New  England  House  upon  a  New  Englander 
who  had  become  rather  enfranchised  from  his  austere  be- 
ginnings, and  returned  to  find  them  only  more  crabbed, 
more  grim,  than  ever,  and  himself  strangely,  inexplicably 
connected  with  them.  The  explanation  of  how  he  was 
connected  with  this  distasteful  setting,  and  of  why  it 
was  distasteful  to  him  evolved  the  author's  theme.  The 
hero's  great-grandmother  had  fled  from  the  same  grim- 
ness  and  straight-lacedness  and  puritanism  by  running 
away  with  a  Frenchman,  just  before  the  birth  of  her 
child,  of  whom  Mr.  Eberdeen  was,  contrary  to  his  bleak, 
orthodox  suspicions,  the  father.  The  author's  plan  was 
to  have  Mr.  Eberdeen,  representing  all  that  was  distaste- 
ful to  the  hero  (Hastings)  in  the  New  England  character, 
the  hero's  ancestor  without  his  knowing  it  —  the  great- 
grandmother  after  she  had  fled,  having  presumably  taken 
the  name,  for  herself  and  child,  of  Tremaine. 

The  ghosts  seemed  to  Mr.  Johnson  the  only  media 
through  which  to  tell  the  story  pictorially.  Whether 
one  believes  ghosts  in  a  story  real  or  not  is,  in  his  opinion, 
beside  the  point,  so  long  as  they  seem  real  enough  for  the 
sake  of  the  telling.  They  may  be  compared  to  the  deus 
ex  machina  of  Euripides,  of  to  the  scenes  in  motion  pic- 
tures which  show  what  some  one  is  dreaming  or  thinking. 

ANALYSIS  OF  THE  DEVELOPED  STORY.  Some  inner 
stories  may  be  detached  from  the  outer  husk  as  a  letter 
is  drawn  from  its  envelope  (find  examples  in  these  col- 
lections). Others  are  a  necessary  part  of  the  external 

112 


MR.  EBERDEEN'S  HOUSE  113 

interest  and  refuse  to  be  separated  without  damage  to 
each.     This  story  is  one  of  the  latter  sort. 

Jack  Hastings  and  Julia  Elliott  are  betrothed.  He 
has  come  to  New  England,  after  some  time  in  Paris,  to 
make  her  a  visit.  It  is  understood,  at  the  end  of  the 
action,  that  they  will  go  abroad  to  live.  So  much  for  the 
outer  wrappings  which  are  bound  so  closely  to  the  heart 
of  the  matter,  as  is  indicated  in  the 

Preparation  for  the  Significant  Part,  or  the  Inner 
Story:  Jack's  mystic  knowledge  of  "  Mr.  Eber- 
deen's  "  house ;  his  strange  mood ;  "  they  talked  of  it 
bein'  ha'nted."  These  details  are  followed  by  the 
more  immediate  preparation;  Jack  is  ill  and  sleepy, 
he  sleeps.  (Or  does  he  sleep?) 

Here,  then,  the  outer  story  merges,  by  way  of 
Jack  as  a  medium,  with  the  inner. 

Dramatic  Climax  of  the  Entire  Story:  (Formed 
by  the  developed  scene  which  constitutes  the  inner 
action.) 

Explanation:  The  characters  are  Jack  Hastings, 
his  counterpart,  and  the  woman.  Jack  in  his  dream 
or  vision  apparently  represents  in  his  thoughts  part 
of  the  personality  of  his  great-grandfather;  the 
ghostly  counterpart  represents  that  ancestor  as  he 
really  behaved,  at  what  must  have  been  the  original 
enactment  of  the  scene.  (Except,  of  course,  that 
Jack  was  absent  from  that  drama,  played  long  be- 
fore his  birth.)  This  unique  treatment  of  dual  per- 
sonality should  be  studied  with  Markheim,  William 
Wilson,  Jekyll  and  Hyde.  For  daring  and  yet  nat- 
uralness combined  with  mysticism,  it  surpasses  them. 
The  end  of  the  scene,  in  Jack's  vision,  shows  the 
ancestor  about  to  do  violence  to  his  wife  (Jack's 
great-grandmother),  but  restrained  by  Jack  himself. 
(Interpreted,  this  is  to  say  that  the  better  nature  of 
Jack's  ancestor  had  actually  triumphed  and  he  had 
rushed  from  his  wife.) 

The  Climax  of  Action    (Whole   of  the  Story): 


114     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

Jack  Hastings  awakes  to  find  that  he  has  been  ill. 
He  lies  in  a  state  of  semi-realization,  of  semi-lapse 
into  the  world  of  his  recent  adventure. 

Denouement:  Julia  and  Hastings  plan  to  live 
abroad.  The  old  man  whom  Jack  had  met  appears 
and  suggests  that  he  saw  the  lady  of  the  house  go 
from  it  to  meet  Henry.  (Is  this  old  man  a  figment 
of  the  fancy  or  is  he  real?)  In  this  addition  to 
Jack's  vision  is  furnished  the  denouement  of  the 
inner  story,  Julia  leads  Jack  to  Mr.  Eberdeen's  room, 
which  proves  to  be  the  one  wherein  he  had  seen  the 
ghostly  drama.  The  original  of  "  John "  is  the 
portrait  Julia  had  hung  upon  the  panel.  Julia  re- 
veals that  when  Jack  came  downstairs  he  had  looked 
like  the  portrait.  Clinching  the  reality  of  the  whole 
thing  is  the  discovery  of  the  gray  chiffon,  with 
the  bloodstains. 

COMMENT.  This,  then,  is  a  narrative  the  mystery  of 
which  must  be  explained  by  each  reader  to  his  own  satis- 
faction. If  the  reader  "  believes  "  in  the  supernatural, 
he  will  take  the  whole  thing,  ghostly  scene  and  all,  as 
somehow  occurring.  If  he  does  not  "  believe,"  he  will 
then  accept  the  scene  as  the  obsession  of  a  sick  man  — 
with  a  few  details  left  in  mystery.  I  should  class  it  as 
a  story  of  the  supernatural,  wherein  the  appearance  is 
visible  to  the  sick  or  the  clairvoyant  mind.  Knowing 
that  the  germinal  idea  had  to  do  with  the  effect  of  a 
house  upon  a  man,  and  that  the  story  is  developed  by 
emphasis  on  this  feeling,  deepened  by  a  ghostly  visitation, 
one  would  find  it  impossible  to  characterize  the  story  as 
other  than  one  of  atmosphere.  And  it  is  the  best  at- 
mosphere story  in  the  four  Yearbooks.  The  right  way 
to  achieve  an  atmosphere  story,  Stevenson  told  us  long 
ago,  is  to  begin  with  a  mood  induced  by  a  place;  Mr. 
Johnson  has  pursued  the  plan. 

Atmosphere  is,  then,  bound  up  with  setting;  plot  in- 
terest follows  in  importance ;  character  is  of  note  mainly 


MR.  EBERDEEN'S  HOUSE  115 

in  the  unique  manifestation  of  dual  personality.  A 
dreamer,  an  artist,  an  idealist  —  any  sensitive  medium  — 
would  fittingly  play  the  part  demanded.  The  love  in- 
terest enriches  the  action  and  humanizes  the  character. 


THE  VISIT  OF  THE  MASTER 

COMMENT.  Mr.  Johnson  has  here  produced  a  satirical 
character  study,  wherein  Mary  Haviland  Norton  well 
nigh  stands  in  place  of  the  story;  but  in  playing  up  the 
visit  of  Hurrell  Oaks  he  has  secured  narrative  interest. 
That  a  mere  visit  should  have  loomed  as  an  event,  and 
that  the  loss  of  it  should  have  proved  so  disappointing 
becomes  the  test  of  Miss  Haviland's  character.  Building 
a  story  upon  so  negative  an  incident  is  a  feat  worthy  of 
Henry  James  —  or  Mary  Haviland  Norton. 
PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:  Miss  Haviland  invites  Hurrell 
Oaks  to  Newfair. 

Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  It  appears 
that  the  great  man  can  stop  only  for  an  hour  or  so. 
To  receive  him  worthily,  Miss  Haviland  decorates 
her  apartment  in  borrowed  and  elegant  trappings; 
she  invites  a  select  few  to  meet  him.  George  Nor- 
ton, who  is  devoted  to  Miss  Haviland,  is  not  in- 
cluded. 

Dramatic  Climax:    Hurrell  Oaks  arrives  earlier 
than  he  is  expected,  while  Miss  Haviland  is  in  her 
bath-tub,  and  since  there  is  nobody  to  receive  him 
.     he  goes  away. 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:  Miss  Havi- 
land rushes  out  to  detain  him  as  the  possibility  occurs 
to  her  that  his  knock  may  have  heralded  the  famous 
guest.  He  is  gone.  She  betrays  to  one  of  her  stu- 
dents her  bitter  disappointment. 

Climax  of  Action:    As  the  guests  arrive  she  tells 
them  that  Hurrell  Oaks  could  not  wait,  though  he 
and  she  have  spent  an  "  immemorial "  hour  together. 
116 


THE  VISIT  OF  THE  MASTER  117 

Denouement:    Two  days  afterward  she  announces 
her  engagement  to  George  Norton. 

PRESENTATION.  The  story  is  recounted  ten  years  later, 
after  a  formal  dinner,  by  the  student  whom  Miss  Haviland 
had  helplessly,  impulsively,  taken  into  her  half-confidence. 
Her  auditor  is  the  narrator,  presumably  Mr.  Johnson, 
himself.  The  related  story  is  exceptionally  well  told  with 
regard  to  the  assumed  narrator ;  she  betrays  just  enough 
of  the  school-girl  character  and  manner  to  enliven  the 
drama  of  middle  age.  From  a  stylistic  point  of  view,  the 
narrative  testifies  to  the  author's  craf  tmanship ;  for  it  is 
almost  as  if  told  by  a  young  woman. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Mary  Haviland  was  interesting 
to  the  girl  narrator  because  of  her  native  ability,  deter- 
mination, and  her  acquired  connoisseurship.  Harmoniz- 
ing her  fundamental  power  with  her  culture,  hitting  off 
little  discrepancies  and  exaggerations  that  the  reader 
might  see  her  whole  —  these  demanded  a  highly  conscious 
technique.  Further,  to  regard  her  half-seriously,  half- 
lightly,  yet  in  the  end  to  demand  the  reader's  sympathy 
and  admiration  for  her,  required  nothing  short  of  Mere- 
dithian  genius.  Finally,  the  bubble  of  fun  blown  out  at 
the  last :  "  She  was  no  doubt  in  the  tub,"  etc.,  indicates 
an  irresponsible  humor  which  makes  play  of  the  whole 
situation. 


THE  STRANGE-LOOKING  MAN 

THE  STARTING  POINT.  "  I  got  the  idea  for  '  The 
Strange-Looking  Man/  "  says  Mrs.  Costello,  "  from  read- 
ing of  the  homecoming  of  a  Canadian  soldier,  limbless, 
partially  blind,  wholly  demented,  to  his  young  wife  — 
Homebringing,  I  should  have  said.  As  I  read,  I  simply 
saw  the  story  as  it  was  written,  nor  could  I  help  feeling 
as  I  wrote  that  my  little  boy  symbolized  Germany  as  she 
is  and  my  young  man  life,  as  we  are  now  so  strongly  hop- 
ing it  may  come  to  be." 

The  statement  from  the  author  serves,  also,  to  ex- 
plain her  symbolical  treatment. 

SETTING.  Should  you  judge,  from  the  connotation, 
that  the  time  is  the  near  or  far  future?  What  is  the 
place?  How  is  it  indicated? 

ACTION.  Brief ;  it  begins  "  One  morning/'  page  363, 
and  ends  with  the  final  words,  page  364.  Do  you  fore- 
see the  denouement  ? 

The  narrative  is  remarkable  in  that  it  supposes  a  con- 
dition the  reverse,  in  many  respects,  of  life  in  ante  bellum 
days.  The  child  rocks  his  father's  cradle.  He  is 
frightened  by  a  whole  man.  The  wrecks  of  men,  in  the 
pictured  setting,  contrast  sharply  with  the  traveler,  pages 

363>  364- 

THEME.  State  the  underlying  idea,  and  show  how  it 
is  intensified  by  subsidiary  ideas. 


118 


VENGEANCE  IS  MINE 

THEME.  Like  "  The  Strange-Looking  Man,"  this  story 
is  pre-eminently  one  of  idea.  Written  before  the  United 
States  declared  war  against  Germany,  it  none  the  less  is 
of  the  Allied  spirit.  At  the  same  time,  it  hints  that  Ger- 
many has  an  ideal.  (See  page  151:  "a  vision  which  it 
alone  had  understood.")  Would  the  same  author  prob- 
ably hold  in  1919  his  original  concept?  Does  his  denoue- 
ment negate  the  ideal? 

How  is  the  "  fear  or  desire  "  (page  145)  bound  up  with 
the  denouement? 

SETTING.  What  is  the  place  of  the  dream?  The  time 
of  the  dream?  What  outer  occurrences  emphasize  it? 
(See,  notably,  page  152,  where  the  place  of  emphasis  is 
given  to  the  "  bold  boom  of  the  batteries.")  Give  an 
external  and  an  internal  proof  of  the  fact  that  "  Christ- 
mas Eve,  1916  "  is  the  time  in  the  dream. 

How  much  of  the  prophecy  (pages  147,  148)  has 
been  fulfilled? 

THE  NARRATOR.  In  what  branch  of  the  service  is 
the  narrator?  Value  of  his  point  of  view?  Why  does 
he  use  the  dream  device?  By  what  difficulties  is  the 
dream  method  usually  attended?  How  successful  has 
Mr.  Jordan  been  in  avoiding  them? 

THE  ACTION.  What  is  the  chief  incident  of  the  in- 
ner action?  How  does  it  emphasize  the  theme?  What 
relation  has  the  outer  action  to  that  of  the  dreamed  ac- 
tion ?  Compare  the  technical  device  with  that  of  "  Mr. 
Eberdeen's  House."  Wherein  lies  the  power  of  the 
denouement  ?  Why  does  the  narrator  say,  "  I  thanked 
God  for  the  Germans  "  ? 

119 


THE  CALLER  IN  THE  NIGHT 

THE  STARTING  POINT.  Mr.  Kline  is  not  sure  of  his 
beginnings ;  perhaps  it  came  to  him  out  of  the  ether  "  or 
whatever  it  is  that  niggardly  generates  ideas."  "If  it 
had  any  starting  point,  perhaps  it  was  in  a  talk  I  remem- 
ber once  having  with  Braithwaite.  I  kicked  because  the 
embattled  farmers  and  others  of  New  England  never 
seemed  to  fire  a  shot  but  some  ready  recorder  was  in- 
stantly on  hand  to  jot  it  down  in  a  paean  of  praise; 
while  Pennsylvania,  with  pretty  good  history  of  its  own, 
too,  and  full  of  legend  and  lore,  had  gone  totally  un- 
reported  by  comparison.  Maybe  I  started  out  to  hunt 
up  its  legends." 

After  this  pleasant  admission,  Mr.  Kline  confesses 
that  "  The  Caller  in  the  Night "  is  no  rendering  of  an 
actual  legend.  "  So  far  as  I  know  there  never  was  a 
Screamer  Moll,  and  no  skeletons.  The  thunder  storm 
probably  happened.  The  rest  is  all  made  up." 

The  statements  are  invaluable  to  one  who  sets  out  to 
judge  a  piece  of  work  with  due  regard  to  the  author's 
purpose.  His  motive,  in  brief,  is  comparable  to  that  of 
Washington  Irving.  Father  Knickerbocker  is  the  "  cre- 
ated legendary "  figure  in  which  New  York  will  take 
pride  forever. 
THE  PLOT. 

The  Dominant  Features:  Fannie  and  George  kill 
Ned.  Fannie  and  Mollie  escape  to  Pennsylvania. 
Later  George  joins  them.  He  falls  in  love  with  the 
girl.  The  mother's  power  returns.  Occasion  throws 
the  girl  with  George.  At  his  protests,  Mollie  under- 
stands he  is  trying  to  "  make  a  fool  of  her,"  as  he 
120 


THE  CALLER  IN  THE  NIGHT  121 

has  of  her  mother,  Fannie.  She  runs  from  him. 
The  incident  of  the  storm.  Mollie  later  finds  Fannie 
and  George.  She  (evidently)  kills  them.  Long 
years  after,  she  tells  her  story.  She  dies. 

Presentation:  The  details  as  just  suggested  are 
woven  in  the  lurid  narrative  Mollie  tells  Mrs.  Pol- 
lard and  Mrs.  Reeves.  Study  the  details  —  they 
are  the  essential  "  story  " —  and  observe  how  skill- 
fully the  author  has  rearranged  them.  To  illustrate, 
he  necessarily  begins  with  what  formed  the  final 
step  in  the  series  above.  What  is  the  reason  for 
the  incoherent  presentation  of  the  story  Moll  tells? 
Mark  out  the  steps  in  the  plot,  Initial  Incident,  and 
so  on  to  the  Denouement,  using  the  scheme  found 
throughout  this  book. 

SETTING.  What  is  the  locale  of  Mrs.  Pollard's  home? 
Is  this  setting  in  any  way  a  part  of  the  plot,  or  does  it 
merely  provide  background  for  Moll's  story?  Is  it  near 
the  setting  of  the  rehearsed  narrative?  Why  does  the 
thunderstorm  form  an  essential  part  of  the  setting? 
How  are  the  weather,  the  time  of  day,  and  the  place 
harmonized  in  the  atmosphere  or  mood  of  the  entire 
narrative  ? 

CHARACTERS.  What  characteristics  of  Mrs.  Pollard 
and  Mrs.  Reeves  make  them  especially  desirable,  for 
story  purposes,  as  listeners? 

In  what  ways  is  the  portrait  of  Moll  given?  What 
is  the  significance  of  the  fact  that  she  is  introduced 
by  her  "  unearthly  cry  "  ?  (Page  369.)  The  main  image 
of  her  person  is  given  (page  371)  as  "  the  tall  and  thin 
but  heavily  framed  figure  of  an  old  woman."  Is  this 
picture  emphasized,  for  cumulative  effect,  or  is  it  left 
to  stand  alone?  Are  Moll's  first  words  well  calculated, 
as  her  initial  speech?  Why? 

Through  Screamer  Moll's  story,  the  story  of  an  in- 
sane woman,  Fannie  and  George  appear  striking  in 
certain  details;  dim  in  others.  Is  this  both  a  necessary 


122     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

fact,  under  the  circumstances,  and  also  better  for  the 
author's  purpose?  Describe  Fannie. 

DETAILS.  Mr.  Kline  used  the  rehearsed  method  of 
telling  the  main  story  as  an  unconscious  effort,  no  doubt, 
to  heighten  the  effect  of  legend,  of  "  something  by  and 
gone,  all  shadowy  as  recalled." 

Where,  in  the  finished  story,  does  the  author  first 
sound  his  legend  idea? 

Why  does  he  introduce  the  thunderstorm?  Even  if 
Moll  had  not  died,  would  it  have  had  logical  place  in 
the  story?  That  is,  would  the  repetition  of  the  storm 
scene  cause  a  reaction  from  her  crazed  brain  which  would 
impel  her  to  speech?  Does  the  duplication  of  the  storm 
(the  one  of  the  inner  story  echoed  by  the  one  of  the 
setting)  increase  the  totality  of  effect? 

Why  is  the  place  of  emphasis  (the  end)  given  to  the 
finding  of  the  two  skeletons? 

What  are  the  chief  sound  effects?  Are  they  in  har- 
mony or  contrast? 

GENERAL  VIEWS  OF  MR.  KLINE.  He  thinks  Mr. 
Braithwaite  is  right.  "  The  only  test  of  a  short  story 
is,  '  Has  the  writer  something  interesting  to  say,  and 
does  he  say  it  in  a  manner  to  interest  me  ?  ' :  ( See,  by 
way  of  comparison,  Mr.  Donn  Byrne's  statement.)  Mr. 
Kline  further  believes  that  the  great  writers  have  never 
had  to  thrash  the  air  with  "  plot " — "  from  Hawthorne 
and  Poe  and  Bret  Harte,  from  Balzac  and  Gautier  and 
Maupassant,  from  Tolstoy  and  Turgenev  and  Dostoiev- 
sky, down  to  our  own  O.  Henry."  According  to  his 
statement  and  illustrations,  how  is  he  probably  consider- 
ing the  word  plot?  What  difference  is  there  between 
plot  invention  and  plot  presentation?  Does  De  Maupas- 
sant show  skill  in  arranging  the  plot  order  in  "  The 
Necklace  "  ?  What  would  have  happened  to  the  story 
had  he  not  created  the  surprise  ?  What  would  be  the  loss 
in  these  stories  of  O.  Henry  had  he  not  carefully  con- 
structed his  plot—"  The  Gift  of  the  Magi,"  "  A  Double- 
Dyed  Deceiver,"  "The  Furnished  Room"? 


THE  CALLER  IN  THE  NIGHT  123 

Mr.  Kline  thinks  that  the  only  way  to  learn  to  write 
is  to  write  and  keep  writing,  under  wise  and  kindly 
criticism  of  course.  And  he  adds  that  if  one  can  be 
severe  and  honest  enough  one's  own  criticism  is  best. 
"  To  be  a  real  writer,  one  must  master  himself,  master 
the  world,  and  master  his  art." 


IN  THE  OPEN  CODE 

PLOT. 

Initial  Impulse.  George  Roberts,  freight  engineer, 
drinker  and  fighter,  on  the  way  to  ruin  and  discharge, 
falls  in  love. 

Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  He  passes 
every  day  the  home  of  his  sweetheart  and  toots  his 
whistle  in  a  musical  code  fashion,  <k  to  let  her  know 
he's  safe."  The  whistle  has  a  softening  effect  on  a 
crowd  of  woodsmen,  engaged  in  restoring  a  Virginia 
manor  house  and  grounds.  *'  The  world  seemed  a 
bit  better  for  it."  The  signal  ceases.  The  cynics 
say  the  engineer  is  probably  drunk  again.  But  one 
of  the  men,  Gordon,  makes  a  special  trip  to  the 
village  to  find  out. 

Dramatic  Climax:  The  engineer  and  the  girl,  he 
learns,  are  married;  they  are  away  on  their  honey- 
moon. 

Steps  to  the  Climax  of  Action:  The  signal  is 
resumed  farther  along  the  line,  where  the  engineer 
and  his  wife  have  set  up  a  home  of  their  own.  For 
three  weeks  the  signal  is  faithful;  then  it  ceases, 
again,  abruptly.  After  four  days  Gordon  goes  again 
to  the  village.  Just  as  he  returns,  the  men  hear  the 
signal  fainter  and  farther  away. 

Climax  of  Action:  Gordon  tells  the  men  that  the 
wife  is  dead  and  is  buried  farther  down  the  line;  he 
whistles  "  to  let  her  know  he's  safe." 

PRESENTATION.  "  It  made  a  neat  little  story,"  Mr. 
Kline  says  of  the  engineer's  reclamation  and  present  cus- 
tom of  signaling.  But  without  the  supporting  band  of 

124 


IN  THE  OPEN  CODE  125 

workmen  to  throw  it  into  relief  it  would  hardly  stand 
alone.  The  group  becomes,  then,  an  integral  part  of  the 
1,500  word  narrative  which  is  given  to  the  reader. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  The  girl,  whose  name  is  not  even 
mentioned,  is  the  most  potent  character  —  or,  perhaps, 
love  as  expressed  through  her  makes  her,  symbolically, 
dominant.  The  engineer  is  the  most  important,  by  virtue 
of  his  active  role ;  the  workmen  are  the  background  char- 
acters, as  they  come  under  the  influence  of  the  simple 
demonstration  of  affection ;  they  are  the  foreground  char- 
acters, as  the  story  is  presented.  What  traits  are  mani- 
fest in  various  individuals  of  the  group?  How  do  these 
traits  sharpen  the  denouement? 

SETTING.     Why  is  Virginia  chosen? 

DETAILS.  What  contribution  is  made  by  the  choice  of 
"  Annie  Laurie  "  ?  On  what  thought  does  the  final  bar 
end?  Did  you,  as  you  read,  notice  this  sinister  clue? 
Why  not? 


LITTLE  SELVES 

STARTING  POINT  AND  STRUCTURAL  PROCESSES.  "  You 
were  right/'  Miss  Lerner  says,  "  about  my  knowing  '  the 
prototype  of  old  Margaret.'  And  every  one  of  her 
storied  recollections  is  a  real  one,  told  for  the  most  part 
in  her  own  words.  She  still  insists  so  stoutly  on  the 
reality  of  the  '  little  old  man  with  the  high  hat,'  the  be- 
witched churn,  the  fairies'  chairs  and  tables,  that  one 
ends  by  believing  in  them,  too.  So  you  see  the  ma- 
terial came  ready  to  my  hand.  All  I  had  to  do  was  to 
vivify  it,  and  cast  it  in  the  most  dramatic  form  possible. 

"  Old  Margaret  is  not  dead,  however.  She  reads  and 
re-reads  '  Little  Selves,'  and  says  she  can  smell  the  peat 
fire  and  hear  the  kettle  humming  on  the  hob.  It  was  an 
old  friend  of  hers  who  died  —  of  cancer,  as  the  story 
ran;  and  Margaret  used  to  spend  many  an  hour  talking 
with  her  those  last  days.  Their  reminiscences,  however, 
were  of  the  time  of  their  young  womanhood ;  they  did  not 
meet  in  the  old  country. 

"  All  this  cherished  material  had  long  lain  in  my  mind. 
Its  greatest  appeal  to  me  perhaps  depended  on  the  fact 
that  I,  too,  had  always  been  an  inveterate  ponderer  of 
moments  of  my  extreme  childhood.  Even  at  eight  or 
ten,  I  used  to  re-live  isolated  moments  of  particular  in- 
terest from  my  '  past,'  which  even  then  seemed  bathed 
in  a  '  livelier  light/ 

"  The  final  impulse  came  one  day  on  hearing  Steven- 
son's phrase,  '  Nothing  matters  much  that  happens  to 
a  boy  after  he  is  seven/  At  once  I  saw  the  whole  story. 
Margaret  must  die,  of  course,  and  dying  revisit  the 
scenes  of  her  childhood.  That  bit  of  manipulation  would 

126 


LITTLE  SELVES  127 

heighten  and  intensify  the  whole  tale.  She  must  be  a 
single  woman,  too,  instead  of  a  wife  and  the  devoted 
mother  of  a  difficult  but  promising  daughter.  She  must 
be  considerably  older.  She  must  retain  her  skill  with 
the  needle,  and  her  piety.  So  I  simply  jotted  down  half 
a  dozen  words  to  name  the  several  incidents  of  her  dream, 
then  began  to  write,  visualizing  the  'opening  scene  as  I 
went.  It  was  like  transcribing  at  some  one  else's  dicta- 
tion matter  already  an  intimate  part  of  one's  spiritual 
life.  Isn't  that  the  way  one's  best  things  come?  I 
wrote  only  one  rough  draft,  then  the  final  copy.  Hardly 
a  word  was  changed.  The  title,  oddly  apt,  I  think,  came 
to  me  when  I  wrote  the  line,  '  She  recreated  her  earlier 
selves  and  passed  them  on,  happy  in  the  thought  that 
she  was  saving  them  from  oblivion.' ' 

This  full  description  of  the  constructive  process  ren- 
ders almost  superfluous  either  questions  or  further  com- 
ment. It  should  be  compared  closely  writh  Mary  Brecht 
Pulver's  similar  resume  of  her  "  Path  of  Glory." 

"  Little  Selves  "  constitutes  a  happy  cross  between  the 
"  evoked  ghost "  story,  such  as  one  finds  in  Kipling's 
"  They,"  and  the  pictures  frankly  labeled  as  memories, 
in  a  multiude  of  stories.  For  as  Margaret  says,  the 
earlier  selves  "  is  realer  "  than  the  children  of  flesh-and- 
blood  who  surround  her. 

THEME.  In  what  does  the  merit  of  the  narrative  lie, — 
theme,  characterization,  or  plot?  In  connection  with 
your  own  answer  observe  that  Miss  Lerner  says,  "  As  for 
plot  versus  theme,  I  think  theme  usually  dominates.  I 
have  some  idea  I  wish  to  expound  —  to  illustrate  by 
means  of  interplay  of  character  and  action.  Idea,  I 
feel,  is  really  The  Thing,  rather  than  mere  complication 
or  rapidity  of  action." 

In  how  many  stories  of  these  collections,  do  you  feel 
the  dominance  of  the  underlying  idea?  In  which,  if  any, 
is  it  lacking?  In  which  do  you  feel  the  predominance  of 
idea  to  such  an  extent  as  to  swamp  the  story  values  ? 

PLOT.     Show  that  the  sentence  on  page  224,   "  Her 


128     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

voice  choked  with  sudden  tears,"  is  a  sort  of  dramatic 
climax. 

Why  is  it  more  artistic  to  leave  the  climax  of  action, 
the  old  woman's  death,  untold? 

CHARACTERS.  In  what  sense  is  the  narrative  a  "  char- 
acter story  "?  Is  a  whole  life  really  re-constructed?  Is 
the  author's  chief  object  this  re-living? 

How  is  Margaret  best  visualized  for  you? 

What  is  Anna's  chief  characteristic  and  what  her  main 
place  in  the  plot? 

SETTING.  In  what  respects  is  the  story  a  national  rep- 
resentative? How  do  the  two  larger  settings,  as  indi- 
cated, aid  each  other?  Which  is  thrown  into  subjection? 
Why? 


THE  WILLOW  WALK 

PLOT.  In  constructing  his  plot,  the  author  devised  a 
plan  whereby  a  robber  might  escape  with  stolen  money. 
Having  invented  it,  he  tested  each  part  to  make  it  seem 
detective  proof ;  and  in  following  up  this  process  he  cre- 
ated a  novel  variety  of  the  detective  story  genre.  Simi- 
lar stories  have  effected  a  resolution  of  the  complication 
by  a  pull  at  some  loose  end  left  hanging  through  inad- 
vertence of  the  criminal,  and  have  so  conserved  justice. 
Mr.  Lewis,  avoiding  this  usual  device,  has  requisitioned 
the  peculiar  advantages  of  dual  personality  to  bring  about 
the  downfall  of  his  criminal.  (Compare  with  this  motif, 
the  one  found  in  Frederick  Stuart  Greene's  *'  Galway 
Intrudes,"  a  story  which  has  much  in  common  with  "  The 
Willow  Walk.") 

A  thief,  therefore,  who  plans  his  get-away  by  first  in- 
venting and  then  pretending  to  be  his  own  "  brother," 
ultimately  becomes  the  brother.  The  transformation  is 
made  plausible  through  the  histrionic  gifts  attributed  to 
the  robber  whereby  he  is,  rather  than  merely  acts,  the 
represented  character. 

To  the  end  that  ultimate  confession  will  occur,  the 
brother  must  be  religious ;  to  the  end  that  punishment  is 
efficacious,  the  confession  must  be  received  with  in- 
credulity. These  are  necessary,  if  unconscious,  prelim- 
inaries to  this  representative  of  the  series  which  begins 
with  Poe's  "  William  Wilson,"  and  which  includes  "  Dr. 
Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde." 

PRESENTATION.  The  author  first  sets  forth  details 
that  lead  to  the  beginning  of  the  action,  the  most  impor- 
tant of  which  convey  that  Jasper  Holt  is  acquiring  a  new 

129 


130     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

hand-writing,  that  he  is  a  respectable  paying  teller,  that 

he  is  a  good  actor. 

Action  Antecedent  to  the  Present:  Read  the 
story,  and  find  under  its  superstructure  the  ground- 
work of  Jasper's  plan.  How  much  preparation  has 
been  necessary  ?  How  long  has  it  required,  probably, 
to  accomplish  it  ?  Has  the  author  begun  at  the  best 
point  possible  in  the  story  action? 

Incidents  of  the  Complication  Leading  Immediately  to 
the  Dramatic  Climax: 

1.  Jasper  Holt  prepares  the  hiding  place. 

Taking  his  car  from  the  garage,  Holt  starts  to- 
ward Rosebank,  but  turns  aside  to  buy  candy,  which 
he  has  packed  in  boxes  that  imitate  books.  He  pur- 
chases two  novels.  To  one  who  recognizes  him,  he 
pretends  he  is  looking  after  bank  property.  He 
reaches  Rosebank;  he  enters  the  house  of  the  willow 
walk,  removes  the  candy  to  the  paper  wrapper,  and 
places  the  two  imitation  books,  with  the  novels,  on 
the  bottom  shelf  of  the  book-case.  (Incidentally, 
he  makes  use  of  the  principle  exploited  by  Poe  in 
"  The  Purloined  Letter.") 

2.  Jasper  establishes  his  identity  as  "  John  Holt." 

He  takes  down  a  religious  work,  from  which  he 
selects  a  name  to  "  spring  " —  Philo  Judseus.  He 
changes  his  clothes  and  becomes  his  own  brother,  her- 
mit and  religious  fanatic.  Downstairs  he  speaks  to 
a  neighbor ;  he  makes  purchases  at  the  drug-store  and 
the  grocery;  he  visits  Soul  Hope  Hall,  speaks  on 
Philo  Judseus  and  prays  for  his  brother  Jasper. 

3.  He  removes  signs  of  his  recent  preparations,  and  re- 
establishes himself  as  Jasper  Holt.     (Note  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  Community  Theatre  scene.) 

Jasper  changes  to  his  own  clothes.  On  his  way 
to  town  he  throws  out  the  candy  and  gives  away  his 
groceries.  He  burns  the  wrapper,  later,  in  his  board- 
ing house.  He  takes  part  in  theatricals ;  it  is  signifi- 


THE  WILLOW  WALK  131 

cant  that  he  is  a  good  actor,  really  becoming  the  part 
he  plays. 

4.  Jasper  prepares  for  the  robbery  and  his  sure  escape. 

Five  days  later,  he  complains  of  a  headache.  He 
takes  a  day  off.  John  calls  at  the  bank  and  empha- 
sizes the  contrast  between  himself  and  Jasper.  Jas- 
per afterwards  suggests  that  in  the  event  of  his  rob- 
bing the  bank  John  would  undoubtedly  aid  in 
bringing  him  to  justice  (dramatic  irony,  here). 

5.  He  completes  his  preparations  outside. 

"  Persuaded  "  to  go  away  for  a  week-end,  he  drives 
south  to  Wanagoochie,  but  circuits  back  to  St.  Clair. 
Two  miles  from  Rosebank,  he  investigates  a  lake. 
En  route  to  St.  Clair,  he  puts  his  machine  out  of 
order  and  leaves  it  at  a  garage,  giving  his  name  as 
Hanson,  Arriving  by  train  at  Vernon,  he  says  his 
car  is  at  Wanagoochie.  He  announces  to  his  land- 
lady that  he  is  taking  two  suit-cases  to  Wakamin. 

6.  He  robs  the  bank.     (Minor  climax.)     He  escapes. 

With  the  road  clear  for  flight,  he  transfers  the 
parcels  of  bills  to  his  suit-case.  He  takes  the  train 
to  Wakamin,  but  gets  off  at  St.  Clair  and  retrieves 
his  car  from  the  garage.  He  drives  toward  Rose- 
bank  ;  spreads  his  lunch  near  the  lake.  At  nightfall 
he  runs  his  car  over  the  cliff  into  the  water.  With 
his  suit-cases,  he  walks  into  Rosebank,  and  at  the 
house  of  the  willow  walk  destroys  all  evidence  of 
himself  as  Jasper.  He  stores  away  $97,535  in  the 
empty  candy  boxes.  He  goes  to  bed  as  John  Holt. 

Dramatic  Climax:  '*  I  suppose  John  would  pray," 
etc.  Jasper  Holt  ceases  to  exist ;  John  begins  to  exist 
as  a  constant  entity. 

Incidents  of  the  Solution  Leading  to  the  Climax 
of  Action 

I.  Jasper  "  acts  "  John. 

John  learns  of  the  theft,  calls  on  the  bank  presi- 


132     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

dent  and  begs  that  his  house  be  searched.  Presi- 
dent gets  rid  of  him.  He  calls  on  the  detective,  who 
finally  searches  John's  house.  John  directs  attention 
to  the  shed  where  Jasper  kept  his  car.  The  police 
refuse  to  search.  Jasper  has  thus  further  en- 
trenched himself,  outwardly,  as  John. 

2.  Jasper  changes,  subtly,  to  John. 

John  prays  for  Jasper.  He  plans  a  trip  south, 
but  continues  his  religious  studies.  It  is  obvious 
that  this  modern  Frankenstein  is  rapidly  becoming 
the  monster  of  his  own  creation.  At  the  end  of  one 
and  a  half  years,  he  has  sloughed  off  most  of  his 
Jasper  nature  and  acquired  that  of  John. 

3.  He  endures  a  period  of  final  struggle. 

The  John  part  of  him  wishes  to  confess ;  the  dying 
Jasper  refuses  to  take  him  back  to  the  bank.  But 
at  the  Soul  Hope  Fraternity,  he  confesses  that  he 
stole.  For  a  week  he  stays  at  home;  then  he  goes 
out.  On  his  return  he  discovers  that  the  money  is 
missing. 

Climax  of  Action:  He  goes  to  the  bank  and  con- 
fesses; his  story  is  not  believed.  He  has  changed 
natures,  completely. 

Denouement:  The  jail  refuses  to  take  him.  He 
finds  work  at  the  sand  pits. 

For  parallelism  of  the  final  situation,  read  Edith 
Wharton's  "  The  Bolted  Door." 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Bear  in  mind  that  the  diverse 
personalities  of  Jasper  and  John  are  bound  up  in  Jasper, 
that  although  "  John  "  was  originally  invented  and  then 
assumed,  he  finally  dominated.  The  dramatic  climax 
marks  the  point  at  which  the  outer  Jasper  disappears ;  the 
climax  of  action  marks  the  disappearance  of  the  inner 
Jasper.  The  man  who  goes  to  work  at  the  sand  pits  is, 
essentially,  John. 

DETAILS.  Suspense,  one  of  the  best  features,  in  the 
earlier  two-thirds  of  the  story,  operates  progressively, 


THE  WILLOW  WALK  133 

the  cause  shifting  with  the  various  steps  of  the  action. 
For  example,  perhaps  the  first  important  question 
aroused  is,  "What  is  Jasper  doing  all  this  for?"  The 
second,  "  Will  he  succeed  in  carrying  out  his  well-laid 
plans  ? "  Meantime,  subordinate  questions  arise,  to  be 
satisfied  by  the  author  in  the  unfolding  of  the  narrative. 
Show  that  suspense  works  of  necessity  less  forcibly 
toward  the  end,  where  the  outcome  becomes  more  and 
more  inevitable. 

Do  you  know  what  became  of  the  stolen  money? 
Should  that  trailing  thread  be  gathered  up,  or  is  it  better 
left  as  it  is? 

Mr.  Lewis  declares  that  "  The  Willow  Walk  "  has,  so 
far  as  he  can  remember,  no  history  at  all.  But  he  con- 
tributes the  following  by  way  of  his  views  on  the  short- 
story  : 

"  Technique  defeats  itself.  The  more  nearly  perfect 
it  becomes,  the  nearer  it  is  to  stagnation.  This  rule  holds 
true  whether  it  be  applied  to  ecclesiastical  ceremony,  to 
that  humorous  art  known  as  *  the  manners  of  a  gentle- 
man/ to  the  designing  of  motor-car  bodies,  or  the  prac- 
tise of  the  arts.  Once  your  motor-body  designer  has 
almost  approximated  the  lines  of  a  carriage,  an  innovator 
appears  who  boisterously  ridicules  the  niceties  of  that 
technique,  and,  to  the  accompaniment  of  howling  from 
the  trained  technicians,  smashes  out  a  new  form,  with 
monstrous  hood  and  stream-line  massiveness.  Within 
two  years  he  has  driven  out  all  the  old  technique,  and  is 
followed  by  a  '  school/  neatly  developing  a  new  tech- 
nique, in  its  turn  to  be  perfected  —  then  destroyed  by 
some  vulgarian  who  is  too  ignorant  or  too  passionate  to 
care  for  the  proprieties  of  design. 

"  Once  the  technique  of  the  academic  school  of  painters 
of  still  life  and  landscape  and  portraits  was  practically 
perfect,  a  noisy,  ill-bred,  passionate  crew  of  destroyers 
appeared,  under  such  raucous  labels  as  '  futurists/ 
'  vorticists/  '  cubists/  and  despite  the  fact  that  their  ex- 
cesses have  not  become  popular  in  plush  parlors,  these 


134     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

innovations  have  forever  ruined  the  pleasure  of  picture- 
gazers  in  the  smooth  inanity  of  the  perfected  old  tech- 
nique. And  now  their  followers  in  their  turn  —  — !  As 
I  write,  the  perfect  militarist  technique  of  the  German 
empire  has  cracked  into  socialist  republics.  In  time 
those  republics  will  build  up  a  perfect  technique  of  bu- 
reaus, and  be  ready  for  the  cleansing  fire. 

"  Technique  defeats  itself.  I  have  repeated  the  word 
'  passion  '  because  that  is  the  force  that  starts  the  rout. 
The  man  who  is  passionate  about  beauty  or  scientific  facts, 
about  making  love  or  going  fishing  or  the  potentialities  of 
Russia  or  revolt  against  smug  oppressors,  is  likely  to  find 
himself  cramped  by  the  technique  of  the  art  which  he 
chooses  as  a  medium,  to  discard  it,  and  to  find  a  technique 
of  his  own.  Austin  Dobson  could  endure  the  triolet  for 
the  expression  of  delicate  inexactitudes  regarding  French 
cures,  but  when  Shelley  was  singing  a  world  aflame,  he 
made  for  himself  a  new  mode  of  expression  which,  to 
formalists,  seemed  inexpressibly  crude. 

'*  And  so  to  the  short  story.  I  am  not  afraid  of  this 
new  technique  of  the  proper  beginning,  the  correct  ending, 
the  clever  denouement,  the  geometrically  plotted  curve  of 
action  —  because  I  do  not  believe  that  anybody  who  pas- 
sionately has  anything  to  say  is  going  to  cramp  himself 
by  learning  its  pat  rules.  But  I  do  believe  that  —  before 
they  go  and  smash  the  technique,  anyway !  —  young 
writers  may  be  saved  much  spiritual  struggle  if  they  be 
taught  that  there  is  nothing  sacred,  nothing  they  unques- 
tionably must  follow,  in  any  exactly  formulated  technique. 

"  They  will,  of  course,  if  they  succeed,  make  a  technique 
of  their  own.  That  is  a  short  cut  to  salvation  for  them. 
It  is  only  when  a  technique  is  that  of  other  writers,  when 
it  is  so  crystallized  that  it  can  be  definitely  exhibited, 
that  it  becomes  dangerous.  I  know  that  Joseph  Herges- 
heimer  in  such  absorbingly  beautiful  short  stories  as 
1  Wild  Oranges/  '  Tol'able  David/  or  '  Asphodel '  has  a 
technique,  a  very  definite  idea  of  what  he  is  doing;  or 
what  he  is  going  to  do  before  he  starts,  and  of  why  he  has 


THE  WILLOW  WALK  135 

done  things  after  he  has  done  them.  But  he  has  not 
obediently  imitated  the  technique  of  other  writers.  None 
knows  better  than  Mr.  Hergesheimer  the  great  art  of  such 
men  as  Conrad,  Galsworthy,  George  Moore ;  but  none  has 
less  imitated  them,  less  accepted  their  technique  as  his 
guidance. 

'*  Curse  Stevenson  for  that  'playing- the  sedulous  ape,' 
which  has  led  so  many  thousands  astray.  It  was  Steven- 
son's weakness,  not  his  strength,  that  aping ;  and  because 
of  it  his  light  is  flickering,  while  that  of  his  contem- 
poraries, Rossetti,  Hardy,  Swinburne,  Flaubert,  who  were 
not  sedulous  apes  but  men  passionate  about  beauty  or  the 
curious  ways  of  daily  man,  burns  evenly  and  forever. 
Stevenson  had  an  unequalled  opportunity;  he  was  a 
pioneer,  with  a  pioneer's  chance  to  stake  out  the  first 
claim ;  yet  once  Kipling  galloped  into  sight,  roaring  at 
deft  Stevensonian  technique,  irreverent  and  violent  as  one 
of  his  own  Rajputs,  doing  really  dreadful  things  to  the 
balanced  decencies  of  proportion  and  melody,  he  routed 
Stevenson  in  a  handful  of  years  .  .  .  and  today  we  have 
read  Stevenson,  but  we  do  read  Kipling. 

44  Of  course,  of  course,  of  course.  '  Freedom  is  no 
excuse  for  violence.'  *  The  young  man  must  train  his 
mind.'  '  From  a  study  of  the  elders  youth  learns  to 
avoid  their  mistakes'  (but  he  doesn't!).  'Only  the 
strong  are  able  to  govern  themselves,  to  make  their  own 
codes  of  ethics  or  of  beauty/  All  those  sage  warnings  — 
used  equally  against  Martin  Luther  and  the  Bolsheviks, 
against  the  bad  boy  in  school  and  Rodin.  Basically,  the 
disagreement  between  classicists  and  modernists  is  tem- 
peramental, and  will,  under  various  guises,  endure  for- 
ever. Only,  let  it  be  clearly  recognized  for  what  it  is ;  let 
the  classicist  not  mistake  himself  for  a  modernist ;  let  the 
innovator  not  suppose  because  O.  Henry  is  still  so  liv- 
ing a  force  that  his  followers  have  not  already  hard- 
ened his  technique  into  a  form  classic  and  very  dead/' 


THE  WEAVER  WHO  CLAD 
THE  SUMMER 

Comment. —  The  death  of  Harris  Merton  Lyon  gives 
added  poignancy  to  the  story  whose  idealism  and  in- 
spiration made  for  it  a  place  in  the  first  of  Mr.  O'Brien's 
collections.  Judged  by  the  test  of  Beauty,  it  is  per- 
haps first  on  the  list.  The  satisfaction  vouchsafed  each 
reader  will  be  in  proportion  to  his  own  Spirit  of  Work 
and  his  acceptance  of  the  theme. 

THEME.  Since  the  Idea  is  foremost,  it  is  quite  fitting 
that  it  should  be  sounded  early.  The  first  approach  is 
on  page  one  (153,  Yearbook)  and  in  the  form  of  a 
wonder  as  to  what  there  could  possibly  be  "  in  being 
a  worker  at  the  other,  the  evanescent  thing."  The  an- 
swer, or  the  satisfaction  of  the  wonder,  is  given  in  the 
essential  story,  stripped  of  its  covering,  pages  158-170. 
The  theme  is  emphasized,  strongly,  in  the  sentence  on 
page  170:  "  You  did  the  Work  of  your  Hand!" 

THE  INNER  STORY,  which  allegorically  satisfies  the 
questioner,  is  the  beautifully  tenuous  tale  of  the  Mariner. 
It  is  woven  of  words  in  a  style  perfectly  to  suggest  the 
spirit  of  summer  and  the  evanescence  of  her  garments, 
yet  underneath  the  light  superstructure  are  the  founda- 
tions of  the  short-story.  The  struggle  of  the  weaver, 
Andy  Gordon,  was  successfully  repeated  for  forty  years. 
He  died,  knowing  that  he  had  been  "  a  master-worker  in 
a  fabric  that  immediately  dissolved,"  yet  content.  His 
death  is  the  denouement  of  the  tale,  just  as  the  dialogue 
between  the  Voice  and  Andy  (pages  159-161)  forms  the 
initial  incident.  What  is  the  dramatic  climax? 

PRESENTATION.  Andy  Gordon's  story  is  told  in  an 

136 


THE  WEAVER  WHO  CLAD  THE  SUMMER     137 

Italian  restaurant,  Pigalle's,  over  a  poker  table.  The 
narrator  is  at  first  denominated  the  Ancient  Mariner ; 
eventually  he  proves  to  be  the  Andy  Gordon  of  his  tale. 
(See  pages  158  and  171.)  What  new  evaluation  of  the 
weaver's  story  do  you  make  after  learning  that  Andy 
was  a  violinist?  Had  you  guessed  any  part  of  the  whole 
situation  before  reading  to  the  denouement  of  the  en- 
veloping story?  The  narrator  of  the  external  action  is, 
presumably,  the  author  himself,  who  uses  the  first  per- 
son "  1." 

Contrast,  between  the  restaurant  scene  and  character 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  summer  scenes  with  Andy  on 
the  other,  is  the  chief  aid  used  to  enhance  the  narrative. 
Point  out  particular  examples  of  its  operation. 

DETAILS.  Division  I  emphasizes  the  character  of  the 
Mariner,  at  the  same  time  it  repeats  the  theme.  (See 
above),  in  the  words,  "  Sufficient  unto  eternity  is  the 
glory  of  the  hour."  Wrhy  does  the  author  give  an  en- 
tire division  (III)  to  the  lines:  "Abruptly  the  old  man 
left  and  went  out  into  the  snowy  night.  For  there  were 
tears  in  his  eyes." 

What  value  has  the  reference  to  Bernhardt,  page  153? 

Why  is  it  well  to  set  the  rehearsal  on  a  snowy  evening? 
(Study  the  story  for  the  answer.)  Where  is  Pigalle's 
restaurant  ? 

What  effect  has  the  tinkling  of  the  door-bell,  at  eleven 
o'clock  ? 

What  principle  of  emphasis  is  at  work  on  the  de- 
scription of  the  maid  who  bore  the  "  sweet  ineffable 
name  of  Philomene"?  On  the  Mariner  (as  described, 
Page  155) ? 

What  do  you  gather  from  the  absinthe  and  the 
cigarettes  faunesf 

What  addition  is  made  to  the  comprehension  of  the 
Mariner  in  the  suggested  resemblance  to  Socrates  and 
to  Verlaine? 

What  colors  and  materials  are  used  in  Summer's 
dresses?  Would  others  have  served  as  well?  After 


138     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

knowing  the  denouement  (that  Andy  was  a  violinist) 
how  do  you  interpret  the  passage  "  Andy  was  about 
twenty-eight  years  old  then,"  etc.,  through  the  words 
"  done  by  hand "  ?  What  other  passages  need  similar 
interpretation  ? 

How  are  the  forty  years  so  passed  over  as  to  em- 
phasize, without  needlessly  repeating,  Andy's  Work? 

What  is  your  own  reaction  to  this  story? 


THE  SUN  CHASER 

STARTING  POINT.  "  You  ask  about  the  germinal  idea 
of  '  The  Sun  Chaser.'  How  can  I  tell  you,  for  how  do 
I  know,  what  the  germinal  idea  of  my  story  is!  I  can 
recognize  it  after  the  story  is  written.  But  that  makes 
it  all  the  more  difficult  to  say  with  certainty  that  the  '  idea  ' 
is  germinal.  What  Ambrose  seeks  is  what  every  one  of 
us  in  the  world  —  even  a  Sun  Chaser  —  wants :  HAPPI- 
NESS. And  the  more  ill-balanced  or  crippled  a  nature  is, 
the  more  importunate  is  this  demand  for  happiness.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  easier  to  tell  you  how  I  came  to  write  '  The  Sun 
Chaser '  than  to  tell  you  anything  about  it.  ...  Early 
one  morning  in  October  I  was  sitting  at  my  writing  table 
in  my  little  log  cabin  up  in  the  Maine  wilderness.  It 
was  about  half  past  five,  and  I  had  started  my  fire  and 
had  my  cup  of  cocoa  and  my  crust  of  bread  and  was 
ready  for  work.  But  I  sat  there  watching  the  dawn. 
Ahead  of  me  I  had  one  of  the  endless  pot-boilers  to 
do  by  means  of  which  I  provided  bread  and  butter  and 
met  my  responsibilities.  The  very  thought  of  doing 
another  of  these  '  things '  made  me  feel  ill  and  tired. 
Suddenly  up  over  the  field  before  my  cabin  with  the 
dawn  I  saw  the  fleeing  figure  of  the  SUN  CHASER  run- 
ning towards  me.  More  I  cannot  tell  you  except  that 
it  was  like  listening  to  wonderful  music  as  I  sat  there 
seeing  the  story  unfold.  I  did  nothing  that  morning 
except  '  listen/  And  for  the  next  month  I  did  no  pot- 
boilers, but  work  on  this  story.  .  .  .  January  first  of 
that  year  I  took  up  college  lecturing  and  since  then  I 
have  written  no  pot-boilers.  .  .  ." — Jeannette  Marks. 

CLASSIFICATION.  A  novelette  of  twelve  divisions,  al- 
most epical.  (But  see  Miss  Marks's  own  comment,  be- 


140     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

low.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  present  analyst  uses  the 
word  "  epic "  to  characterize  the  story,  whereas  Miss 
Marks  sees  in  it  a  lack  of  the  epic  quality.  Or  so  the 
implication  runs.) 

Apart  from  length,  the  character  interest  shifts  from 
the  Sun  Chaser  to  his  daughter,  and  his  wife;  the 
denouement  emphasizes  the  child's  sacrifice.  The  epi- 
logue emphasizes  the  inhumanity  of  man  to  man,  and  its 
abeyance  in  one  case  because  of  the  sacrifice. 

(The  designation  of  the  work  as  a  novelette  is,  in  all 
its  bearings,  indicative  of  values  greater  than  those  of 
the  short-story.) 

PLOT.  Enumerate  the  earlier  stages  of  the  plot  action. 
The  dramatic  climax  is  formed  by  the  vividly  summarized 
struggle  between  the  Sun  Chaser  and  his  wife  and  child. 
Important  steps  toward  the  end  of  the  action  are:  the 
placing  of  the  Sun  Chaser  in  the  town  lock-up;  the 
mother's  leaving  Pearl  alone  while  she  goes  to  return 
the  wash;  Pearl's  journeying  to  feed  her  father.  (This 
journey  is,  in  itself,  the  largest  struggle  within  the  nar- 
rative ;  for,  the  struggle  to  find  happiness  —  as  Miss 
Marks  has  indicated  —  is  the  chief  one.)  Study  the 
various  phases  of  the  child's  battle  against  the  forces  of 
nature. 

The  Climax  of  Action.     Pearl  falls  in  the  snow. 
Denouement.     Her  body  is  found. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  The  most  remarkable  character- 
ization exists  in  the  case  of  the  Sun  Chaser.  Miss 
Marks's  ability  to  reflect  the  mentality  of  his  brain  is  par- 
ticularly worthy  of  study. 

In  contrast  to  the  Chaser,  and  yet  not  in  violent  oppo- 
sition, is  his  wife.  Study  her  portrait,  looking  for  her 
sense  of  the  practical,  softened  by  her  own  love  and 
gentleness.  What  reaction  on  you  is  effected  by  her 
effort  to  keep  her  husband  from  the  lock-up? 

Pearl  is  tenderly  and  delicately  drawn,  and  yet  she 
evinces  the  practicality  of  her  mother.  See,  e.g.,  pages 


THE  SUN  CHASER  141 

227,  244.  In  what  ways  is  she  the  character  who  most 
compels  sympathy?  Would  she  do  so,  apart  from  the 
final  supreme  sacrifice? 

DETAILS.  The  clip-clop  of  Ambrose's  walk  is  a  good 
example  of  the  sound  effects  which  increase  the  drama- 
turgic quality.  Point  out  other  instances.  The  lamp  in 
Ambrose's  home,  "  torch  of  flame  and  blackened  stream 
of  smoke,"  is  illustrative  of  the  color  contribution.  Give 
other  examples.  But,  in  this  story,  greater  in  value  than 
either  sound  or  color  is  the  sense  of  motion.  Mr.  O'Brien 
calls  attention  to  the  "  rhythmical  progression  "  of  the 
narrative.  To  this  suggestion,  add  your  own  interpre- 
tation of  the  movement.  Is  there  in  the  idea  of  the 
search  for  happiness  a  connotation  of  something  never 
achieved,  never-ended?  and  with  the  search  a  constant 
necessity  for  "  Going  —  going  —  going  "  ? 

How  does  the  story  affect  you  emotionally?  With 
regard  to  individual  moments,  how  does  the  behavior  of 
the  liquor  dealer  move  you  ?  Is  "  contempt "  the  feel- 
ing you  have  for  him,  or  is  it  stronger?  What  is  your 
predominant  feeling  for  Ambrose?  Sympathy  is  in- 
cited through  a  combination  of  human  relationships: 
i.  Pearl's  love  for  her  father;  2.  Sybil  Clarke's  love  for 
Pearl,  and  3.  her  pity  for  Ambrose,  her  husband.  What 
reaction  is  aroused  by  the  incident  wherein  Pearl  and 
David  figure? 

AUTHOR'S  COMMENT.  "  Is  '  The  Sun  Chaser '  any 
longer  than  some  of  Stevenson's  short  stories,  or  Balzac's 
or  Guy  de  Maupassant's  ?  .  .  .  And  what  is  a  short  story, 
anyhow?  Isn't  the  range  of  narrative  the  question  in- 
volved in  a  short  story?  In  a  play  I  can  tell  from  the 
'  feel '  of  the  material  whether  it  is  a  one-acter  or  full 
dress  length.  Isn't  there  a  suggestion  of  the  epic  tend- 
ency in  the  novelettes  as  well  as  the  novel :  —  the  inci- 
dental use  of  incident,  for  example,  contributing  to  the 
sense  of  mass?  This  is  the  sort  of  tendency  one  may 
not  admit  to  short  story  or  play  where  concentration  is 


142     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

so  much  greater.  As  I  see  it,  now  that  it  is  done,  '  The 
Sun  Chaser '  structurally  as  well  as  spiritually  is  marked 
by  extreme  concentration,  and  for  that  reason,  person- 
ally, it  would  seem  to  me  to  be  a  short  story.  .  .  .  The 
short  story  appeals  to  me  from  the  technical  point  of 
view  because  it  is  more  perfect  than  the  novel,  even  as 
I  consider  the  play  to  be  more  perfect  structurally  than 
the  short  story.  I  believe  in  concrete  foundations  and 
steel  superstructures,  and  these,  I  think,  can  be  built  for 
the  play,  but  not  for  the  short  story  any  more  than  for 
the  poem.  ...  It  seems  to  me  that  the  well-equipped 
artist  always  has  a  feeling  for  structure.  Analysis,  how- 
ever, does  not  precede  creation.  Because  of  the  nature 
of  the  creative  artist's  mind,  it  does  not  necessarily  follow 
creation,  either.  There  may  be  actual  inability  to  analyze. 
It's  as  difficult  to  see  the  sum  total  of  the  work  you've 
done  as  to  see  the  sum  total  of  yourself.  The  creative 
artist  is  not  an  analytical  chemist  of  his  own  mental 
processes.  ...  I  have  no  standards.  ...  I  think  that 
the  thing  which  '  arrives  '  in  short  story  or  play  is,  like 
beauty,  '  its  own  excuse  for  being.'  " —  Jeannette  Marks. 


THE  STORY  VINTON  HEARD 
AT  MALLORIE 

In  this  work  Miss  Moseley  has  presented  a  story  of  the 
war,  a  narrative  of  the  supernatural  having  points  in 
common  with  Mr.  Rhodes's  "  Extra  Men."  In  each, 
there  is  the  spirit-world  visitor,  in  each  the  truth  con- 
veyed by  him  which  gives  the  story  its  thematic  charac- 
ter, and  in  each  the  living  power  of  the  dead  made  mani- 
fest. As  I  have  pointed  out  in  "  Representative  Ghosts  " 
(The  Bookman,  August,  1917),  and  elsewhere,  man- 
kind will  be  interested  in  ghosts  so  long  as  earth  endures. 
The  most  decided  impetus  to  fiction  given  by  the  war  has 
been,  so  far,  in  the  direction  of  the  supernatural.  It  is 
interesting  to  know  that  Mr.  O'Brien  considers  this  and 
Frances  Gilchrist  Wood's  "The  White  Battalion"  the 
two  most  enduring  legends  contributed  this  year  to  the 
supernatural  literature  of  the  war. 
PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:     Young  Mallorie  is  killed  in  ac- 
tion. 

Steps  toward  the  Climax:  His  body  is  taken  home 
to  Mallorie  Abbey,  where  masses  are  held  over  it. 
A  Zeppelin  appears,  ready  to  discharge  bombs  just 
over  the  chapel,  when  an  aeroplane  swoops  noise- 
lessly down ;  the  Zeppelin  falls.  The  Germans  are 
all  killed.  The  aeronaut  descends.  He  accepts  the 
invitation  to  stay  awhile  at  Mallorie  Abbey  and  re- 
mains almost  a  week.  Lieutenant  Templar,  as  he 
calls  himself,  occupies  dead  young  Mallorie's  room 
and  wears  his  clothes.  He  plays  tennis  and  behaves 
in  general  like  a  normal  healthy  young  English- 
143 


144     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

man,  but  that  he  has  unusual  powers  is  evinced  by 
the  words  of  the  visiting  general  officer,  "  How  does 
he  know?" 

The  Climax:  Lady  Maurya's  questions  of  the 
aeronaut  terminate  in  the  answer,  "  Because  in  me 
is  the  strength/'  etc.,  revealing  his  supernatural  char- 
acter. He  disappears. 

PRESENTATION.  The  single  incident  becomes  subdued, 
rather  than  emphasized,  by  representing  it  as  told  to  Vin- 
ton  who,  in  turn,  repeats  it  to  Ware  and  Abigail. 
Credulity  is  gained  in  assuming  for  each  narrator  an  im- 
plied or  expressed  belief, — "  I  said  to  her  that  I  was  the 
most  believing  man  since  the  Dark  Ages."  And  their 
faith  acts  cumulatively  to  compel  the  reader's  acceptance. 
By  rehearsing  in  New  England  the  story  of  English  back- 
ground and  atmosphere,  Miss  Moseley  gains  for  it  sharp- 
ness and,  at  the  same  time,  a  certain  nuance.  The 
stormy  night  supposedly  affects  the  hearers'  credulity,  and 
through  them,  once  more,  the  reader's. 


HEART  OF  YOUTH 

COMMENT  AND  QUERY.  "  For  me,"  says  Mr.  Muilen- 
burg,  "  the  best  story  is  the  one  that  gives  the  reader 
the  greatest  after-mood,  and  this  can  be  done  with  very 
little  action.  To  give  the  feeling  of  an  environment,  to 
show  character  absolutely  in  a  life-like  manner,  and  to 
give  nature  and  man  an  equal  place:  these  I  consider 
necessary  to  almost  every  story." 

Using  his  own  criterion,  how  well  has  Mr.  Muilenburg 
succeeded  in  every  respect  mentioned  above?  What 
mood  does  the  story  give  you?  Where  is  the  environ- 
ment? Does  the  feeling  that  arises  from  it  emphasize 
the  general  atmosphere? 

Pages  172  and  173  introduce  the  boy,  Frank,  in  his 
setting.  Which  is  more  important  —  character  or  place  ? 
Again  measure  your  answer  by  the  author's  ideals. 

"  Both  stones  have  kept  close  to  realism,"  says  Mr. 
Muilenburg,  "  as  the  greater  part  of  both  have  been 
taken  from  my  own  experience,  and  circumstances  are 
reproduced  rather  than  fancied."  Is  there  anything  in 
the  characterization  of  the  boy  that  tells  you  he  is,  in 
some  measure,  a  reflection  of  the  author  himself  ? 

"  Isn't  it  possible,"  asks  the  author,  "  that  only  the 
stories  that  have  some  situation  where  the  characters 
must  be  shown  in  primitive  fashion  are  enduring?" 
How  would  you  answer  this  question  in  general  ?  What 
is  the  situation  in  this  story  ?  May  it  be  termed  "  primi- 
tive"? 

DETAILS  OF  COMPOSITION.  Pages  173,  174  recount  an 
incident  which  shows  the  elements  of  conflict  in  the  boy's 
soul.  How  does  it  prepare  for  the  greater  struggle? 
(See  pages  179,  180,  181.)  What  purpose  has  the  scene 

145 


146     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

between  Frank  and  Bill  with  respect  to  later  develop- 
ments and  particularly  the  struggle? 

What  contribution  to  the  boy's  character  is  made  in 
his  ceasing  work  only  when  the  shadow  of  the  cotton- 
wood  tree  pointed  north?  in  his  taking  the  milk-pails 
from  the  hooks?  (Page  182.) 

In  the  "  heart  of  youth  *'  conflict  (page  180)  what 
emotions  are  arrayed  against  each  other? 

What  value  has  the  episode  of  the  bird  and  the  snake? 
What  conditions  make  it  an  integral  part  of  the  action, 
not  a  forced  parallel? 

What  details  of  setting  and  circumstance,  and  what 
traits  in  the  boy  combine  to  solicit  your  sympathy  ? 

The  little  story  is  unified  in  character,  place  and  time. 
It  reveals  by  concrete  symbol  the  significant  phases  of 
the  struggle.  It  performs  a  tour  de  force  in  avoiding 
an  extended  analysis  of  the  boy's  psychology.  Even 
though  the  narrative  is  told  from  Frank's  "  angle,"  the 
reader  knows  what  he  thinks  by  what  he  does  and  says, 
rather  than  by  the  author's  analysis  of  his  mental  state. 
Further,  the  work  makes  a  small  contribution  to  literary 
history,  since  it  is  representative  of  a  period  of  life  in 
the  Middle  West,  through  which  the  author  has  passed ; 
and  it  is  reflected  there  now,  to  some  extent.  The  fact 
that  there  is  a  strong  vein  of  poetry  throughout  is  be- 
cause "  poetry  is  found  naturally  in  the  life  of  a  people 
who  must  struggle  with  a  hard  physical  environment." 


AT  THE  END  OF  THE  ROAD 

Mr.  Clayton  Hamilton  says  in  "  A  Manual  of  the  Art 
of  Fiction"  (page  187),  " — although  the  novel  may  be 
either  realistic  or  romantic  in  general  method,  the  short- 
story  is  almost  of  necessity  obliged  to  be  romantic.  In 
the  brief  space  allotted  to  him,  it  is  practically  impossible 
for  the  writer  of  short-stories  to  induce  a  general  truth 
from  particular,  imagined  facts  imitated  from  actuality : 
it  is  far  simpler  to  deduce  the  imagined  details  of  the 
story  from  a  central  thesis,  held  securely  in  the  author's 
mind  and  suggested  to  the  reader  at  the  outset.  It  is  a 
quicker  process  to  think  from  the  truth  to  facts  than 
to  think  from  facts  to  the  truth."  And  in  illustration 
of  his  statement,  he  adds  that  Daudet  and  de  Maupassant, 
who  worked  realistically  in  their  novels,  worked  roman- 
tically in  their  contes,  also  that  the  great  short-story 
writers  of  our  own  language  have  been,  nearly  all  of 
them,  romanticists  —  from  Poe  to  Kipling. 

With  this  interesting  tenet  in  mind,  look  over  all 
the  realistic  stories  in  the  four  volumes  we  are  studying, 
and  try  to  apply  to  each  the  same  methods  by  which  the 
romantic  stories  are  studied.  Does  the  application  break 
down?  How  far  can  you  follow  it?  Try,  for  example, 
to  analyze  the  plot  of  "At  the  End  of  the  Road" 
according  to  the  type  used  again  and  again  in  this  book. 

Why  is  this  story  told  in  the  first  person  ?  Try  telling 
it  in  the  third  person,  beginning  that  is,  "  The  latter  part 
of  the  summer  found  him  tramping,"  etc.,  and  see  what 
is  lost. 

Recall  stories  which  have  for  setting  a  picnic  ground, 
a  fair  ground,  or  other  community  gathering.  Read 
Thomas  Hardy's  "On  the  Western  Circuit."  (In 

147 


148     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

"  Life's  Little  Ironies.")  Why  is  such  a  setting  good  for 
many  types  of  story  —  whether  realistic,  romantic,  comic, 
tragic  ? 

Who  is  the  central  figure  in  Mr.  Muilenburg's  Iowa 
story?  Would  his  story  gain  importance  if  detached 
from  the  subjectivity  of  the  narrator  —  if  the  musings, 
observations  and  feelings  were  cut?  What  would  hap- 
pen to  the  whole  narrative  if  such  a  change  were  made? 
Sum  up  the  gist  of  the  "  story  "  in  a  few  words. 

What  is  the  struggle?  Wherein  lies  the  human  ap- 
peal? 

What  is  the  end  of  the  action  ?     How  do  you  know  ? 

The  drunkard  is  an  age-old  figure,  whether  humorous 
or  tragic.  What  is  the  essential  difference  between  the 
tragic  and  the  humorous  portrayal?  Why,  for  instance, 
does  one  laugh  at  an  actor  who  plays  the  part  of  Cassio, 
in  the  drinking-scene  from  "  Othello  "  ?  Why  does  one 
"  feel  sorry  for  "  Bill  as  here  conceived  ? 

What  theme  is  lightly  touched  and  where  ? 

What  has  this  example  of  Mr.  Muilenburg's  work  in 
common  with  the  preceding  story  by  him? 

What  color  comes  to  mind  instantly  on  thinking  of  his 
chromatic  effects?  Is  it  in  harmony  with  the  other  story- 
elements?  Are  there  notes  of  contrast? 


AT  THE  END  OF  THE  PATH 

The  artistry  of  the  author  has  worked  consciously  or 
unconsciously  to  create  a  finished  piece  of  work.  Told 
as  a  single  episode  in  the  experience  of  a  traveler,  it  has 
the  magnitude  of  the  short- story. 

PROPORTION.  This  essential  is  placed  first,  here,  as 
being  the  chief  means  by  which  the  effect  is  obtained. 
This  effect  comes,  cumulatively,  and  is  increased  by  giv- 
ing climactic  value  to  a  coincidence.  The  coincidence, 
properly  prepared  for,  is  not  of  the  kind  that  would  have 
had  great  worth  at  the  end  of  a  longer  story. 

To  illustrate  how  it  might  have  been  diminished,  rather 
than  increased: 

Throw  the  time  back  to  the  youth  of  Giovanni  and 
Rosa.  Develop,  at  length,  the  love  affair  of  the  two 
young  people.  (This,  alone,  would  require  several 
pages.)  Show  the  struggle  of  the  girl,  torn  between 
religion  and  love.  Present  her  prayer  to  the  Virgin,  the 
answer,  and  her  decision  (done  dramatically,  all  this, 
perhaps  in  two  pages),  and  her  entrance  into  the  nunnery. 
(So  much  would  be  done,  logically,  from  Rosa's  point  of 
view.)  Shifting  the  spot-light  to  Giovanni,  show  him 
stabbing  the  picture  of  the  Virgin;  his  disappearance; 
his  meeting  the  funeral,  and  his  being  informed  of  Rosa's 
death.  The  fact  that  it  occurred  at  the  time  he  stabbed 
the  picture,  as  the  coincidence,  revealed  after  so  long  a 
development,  would  lack  comparative  height  or  worth. 

Consider  such  treatment,  and  by  force  of  comparison 
see  that  the  author  did  best  to  treat  the  occurrences  at 
a  time  long  after  they  happened.  The  rehearsed  story 
is  in  this  instance  undoubtedly  the  best.  Further,  by  its 

149 


150     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

use,  the  last  words  (page  188),  "I  am  Giovanni,"  are 
possible,  intensifying  the  effect. 

Considering  the  plot,  what  should  you  say  are  the 
chief  steps  in  the  development?  Analyze  both  the  inner 
story  and  in  its  relation  to  the  enveloping  action.  The 
initial  impulse,  for  instance,  in  the  whole  narrative  is, 
the  motivation  for  the  monk's  telling  his  story.  The 
denouement,  similarly,  is  the  fact  that  Giovanni  and  the 
monk  are  identical.  What  are  initial  impulse  and 
denouement  of  the  rehearsed  narrative? 

SETTING.  What  is  the  worth  of  the  setting  in  such  a 
story,  both  as  regards  unity  and  convincingness?  Note 
all  the  details  which  are  distinctly  Italian.  What  con- 
notation have  the  cypress  trees?  Do  they  intensify  the 
mood?  In  connection  with  the  immediate  scene  in  the 
chapel,  what  value  has  the  sentence,  "  Beneath  it,  on  a 
little  stand,  lay  a  slim-bladed  vicious  knife,  covered 
with  dust "  ? 

CHARACTERIZATION.  What  added  theme  is  conveyed  in 
the  description,  "  He  was  old,  the  oldest  man  Blagden 
had  ever  seen,  etc."?  Does  one  get  it  on  first  reading, 
or  on  reflection? 

Is  Blagden  a  character,  or  a  reason  for  telling  the 
story  ? 

DETAILS.  Point  out  the  several  examples  of  mysti- 
cism. 


THE  WHALE  AND  THE 
GRASSHOPPER 

CLASSIFICATION.  "  You  are  right,"  says  Mr.  O'Brien, 
"  about  '  The  Whale  and  the  Grasshopper.'  It  is  a 
sort  of  fable  and  like  the  other  sketches  in  my  book  it 
was  written  for  the  sake  of  the  philosophy  and  humor. 
The  starting  point  of  the  narrative  was  the  remark  of 
Padna  Dan  '  As  the  Whale  said  to  the  Grasshopper,' 
which  I  considered  a  good  title,  and  accordingly  wrote  the 
phantasy." 

Read  as  a  sort  of  parallel,  Emerson's  "  The  Mountain 
and  the  Squirrel."  What  is  the  difference  in  the  mental 
attitude  of  the  two  authors? 

SETTING.  Why  is  such  a  fable  particularly  well  set 
near  Castlegregory  on  a  June  morning?  Note  the  in- 
tensifying of  the  setting  by  means  of  dialect.  Would 
the  place  be  realized  without  the  Irish  speech?  Study 
the  selective  processes  used  to  make  the  dialect  easy  to 
understand  and  yet  distinctly  characteristic  of  the  Green 
Isle. 

CHARACTERS.  Standish  McNeill  and  Felix  O'Dowd 
seem  to  be  real  people, —  at  the  very  beginning,  because 
of  their  names.  The  writer  who  is  less  careful  would 
have  endowed  them  with  Mike  or  Pat.  How  are  they 
kept  up  from  start  to  finish  as  real  ?  Why,  for  example, 
do  you  know  they  took  that  walk?  What  character- 
istic (at  once  Celtic  and  individual)  of  Standish  enables 
him  to  "  put  across  "  so  vividly  a  yarn  which  one  knows 
all  along  can  be  only  fable  ? 

GENERAL  METHODS.  Mr.  O'Brien  states  that  he  does 
not  know  how  much  he  believes  in  or  practices  technical 


152     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

distinctions.  "  Writing,  I  think,  is  the  art  that  must 
evolve  out  of  ourselves.  I  began  life  as  an  artist  and 
specialized  in  sculpture,  but  rinding  there  were  things  I 
could  not  express  through  such  a  medium  I  took  to  writ- 
ing. When  I  am  impressed  by  some  important  event, 
it  fashions  itself  in  story  or  drama  form  in  my  mind, 
without  any  conscious  effort  on  my  part,  and  when  I 
feel  intelligent  —  which  is  not  often  —  I  write." 


IN  BERLIN 

> 

"  In  Berlin  "  is  a  tour  de  force  of  short-story  construc- 
tion. Miss  O'Reilly  has  followed  the  well-known  prin- 
ciple of  beginning  near  the  climax,  that  the  story  may 
gain  intensity.  The  result  is  excellent  for  this  one  prin- 
ciple. But  the  whole  composition  of  125  or  150  words 
in  reality  plays  up  a  single  dramatic  moment  —  not  a 
single  Incident. 

The  advantage  to  the  student  in  reproducing  similar 
"  dramatic  moment "  stories  will  be  to  show  the  value 
of  material  in  magnitude  and  worth,  to  teach  him  to  ap- 
preciate climax,  and  to  feel  the  advantages  —  and  the 
disadvantages  —  of  economy. 

Read  Chapter  III  in  "  A  Handbook  on  Story  Writ- 
ing," describing  and  illustrating  the  Anecdote  and  the 
Incident. 


153 


THE  INTERVAL 

STARTING  POINT.  Mr.  O' Sullivan  states  that  the  story 
arose  primarily  from  his  foreseeing,  in  1915,  that  one 
result  of  the  War  would  be  a  revived  interest  in  the  super- 
natural. This  foreknowledge  illustrates  that  the  author 
must  be  a  little  ahead  of  his  time,  rather  than  a  little 
behind  it. 

The  clearness  of  his  prevision  is  illustrated  in  such 
stories  as  Gordon  Arthur  Smith's  "  Jeanne  the  Maid  " 
(1915),  Edith  Wharton's  i4  Kerfol"  (1916),  Alice 
Brown's  "  The  Flying  Teuton"  (1917),  and  Frances 
Wood's  "The  White  Battalion"  (1918).  It  would  be 
safe  to  hazard  that  these  authors  foresaw  a  similar  de- 
mand. 

TITLE.     Meaning  of  "  The  Interval  "?     Is  it  apt? 

SETTING.  Why  did  the  author  choose  London,  rather 
than  an  American  city?  Is  it  clear  from  the  story  alone 
that  Mr.  O'Sullivan  is  thoroughly  familiar  with  English 
locale  and  character? 

In  the  first  paragraph  occurs  the  sentence,  "  A  dense 
haze,  gray  and  tinged  ruddy,  lay  between  the  houses, 
sometimes  blowing  with  a  little  wet  kiss  against  the 
face."  What  color  effects  are  in  harmony  with  the 
atmosphere  of  the  story? 

PLOT.  The  struggle  is  in  the  mind  of  Mrs.  Wilton. 
She  wishes  to  be  assured  that  "  it  was  not  all  over,  that 
he  was  somewhere,  not  too  far  away,"  etc.,  page  385. 
The  situation  is  here  disclosed,  suspense  having  been  used 
as  to  Mrs.  Wilton's  purpose  in  the  previous  pages.  '  This 
must  be  the  tenth  seer  she  had  consulted  since  Hugh 
had  been  killed,"  page  384  is  the  most  revelatory  sen- 
tence. 

154 


THE  INTERVAL  155 

Is  the  struggle  successful? 

The  initial  incident  is  this  visit  to  the  clairvoyant  who 
"sees"  Hugh. 

Which  of  the  incidents  constitutes  the  dramatic  climax? 

"  She  slipped  out  of  bed  hastily  .  .  ."  (page  390)  is 
the  climax  of  action,  or  as  much  as  is  expressed.  The 
reader  must  finish  it  for  himself. 

(The  final  sentence,  with  seeming  carelessness  dropping 
the  information  that  "  after  her  death  the  slippers  could 
never  be  found,"  is  an  incentive  to  the  reader's  fancy. 
It  has  no  plot  value,  except  by  suggestion.) 

Did  Hugh  really  return,  or  did  Mrs.  Wilton  see  him 
as  a  logical  result  of  her  brooding?  If  the  former  choice 
is  made,  the  inference  is  that  the  reader  accepts  Hugh 
as  a  bona  fide  ghost ;  if  the  latter,  then  he  is  only  existent 
through  the  sick-woman's  mind  and  the  mind  of  the 
clairvoyant.  (See  article,  "Representative  Ghosts," 
Bookman,  August,  1917.) 

DETAILS.  Does  the  author  believe  the  clairvoyant  was 
genuine?  If  so,  why  does  he  say  (page  384),  "  A  look  of 
complicity,  of  cunning,  perhaps  of  irony,  passed  through 
the  dealer's  cynical  and  sad  eyes  "  ? 

Are  the  visitations  of  Hugh  arranged  in  climactic  or- 
der? 

Is  Mrs.  Wilton's  illness  adequately  motivated?  What 
is  the  double  explanation  of  it?  Do  you  accept  the  nat- 
ural or  the  supernatural  reason? 


THE  TOAST  TO  FORTY-FIVE 

PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:  On  August  16,  1866,  at  Paris, 
Vermont,  was  held  a  banquet  in  honor  of  sixty-odd 
returned  heroes.  It  was  called  the  '*  Forty-five " 
banquet  in  honor  of  the  boys  who  had  not  returned. 
Captain  Jack  Fuller  proposed  to  save  one  bottle  of 
vintage,  the  seal  of  which  should  be  broken  when  in 
the  course  of  years  only  two  of  the  sixty  heroes  re- 
mained. On  their  final  reunion  they  would  drink  a 
toast  to  "  Forty-five.'* 

Steps  toward  Dramatic  Climax:  Captain  Jack 
was  the  first  to  join  Forty-five.  He  left  a  son,  who 
grew  up,  married,  and  died,  leaving  a  son,  young 
Jack  Fuller. 

In  1910,  eleven  heroes  are  living;  by  August  16, 
1912,  the  ranks  have  dwindled  to  four  old  men.  On 
August  17,  1912,  Jack  Fuller,  grandson  of  Captain 
Jack  of  Civil  War  fame,  in  a  drunken  fit  accidentally 
kills  his  baby.  Sobered  by  the  tragedy,  he  promises 
reformation.  Succeeding  months  witness  his  hard 
struggle.  He  wishes,  as  a  final  safeguard,  to  join  the 
National  Guardsmen,  but  his  wife,  Betty,  begs  him 
to  stay  with  her  —  she  cannot  bear  alone  the  memo- 
ries. Jack  raises  a  company,  becomes  their  captain, 
and  drills  them  as  Fuller's  Fire-eaters.  (The  Mex- 
ican trouble  motivates  this  step.)  In  August,  1916, 
three  of  the  Forty-five  are  left:  Henry  Weston, 
Uncle  Joe  Fodder,  and  Wilber  Nieson.  In  Febru- 
ary, 1917,  the  United  States  severs  relations  with. 
Germany.  In  July,  half  of  Fuller's  Fire-eaters  have 
156 


THE  TOAST  TO  FORTY-FIVE  157 

been  called  upon  to  make  up  the  Paris  quota.  Jack's 
name  has  not  been  drawn ;  but  he  wishes  to  enlist,  the 
more  so  as  his  men  will  enlist  in  a  body,  not  waiting 
for  the  draft.  Betty  implores  him  to  remain ;  as  she 
breaks  down  pyhsically,  he  is  torn  between  love  and 
duty.  Wilber  Nieson  and  Henry  Weston  die. 
Only  Uncle  Joe  is  left;  the  toast  cannot  be  pledged, 
after  all,  as  planned. 

Jack  makes  up  his  mind  to  enlist  with  his  whole 
Company  —  Minor  Climax.  A  dinner  is  proposed 
for  them  in  place  of  the  old  reunion.  Hundreds  of 
Parisians  gather;  the  largest  assembly  hall  obtain- 
able is  crowded.  Sam  Hod,  editor,  is  toastmaster 
by  virtue  of  having  three  sons  in  the  Fire-eaters. 
Uncle  Joe  Fodder  sits  at  his  right.  Captain  Jack 
Fuller  at  his  left.  Hod  announces  that  Uncle  Joe 
has  requested  that  the  toast  to  Forty-five  be  given 
under  the  present  circumstances.  Uncle  Joe  offers 
a  toast  to  Captain  Jack  Fuller  and  his  posterity. 

Dramatic  Climax:  Jack's  glass  is  raised;  as  he 
hears  the  words  of  Uncle  Joe,  he  sees  his  wife's  face. 
He  pours  out  the  wine  and  makes  his  toast  with 
water. 

Climax  of  Action:  Betty  sends  Jack  away  —  with 
a  smile  —  and  she  goes  to  work  at  the  box  factory. 

DETAILS.  Is  there  a  constant  struggle  for  one  charac- 
ter, or  does  it  shift  from  Jack  to  Betty? 

Is  there,  accordingly,  a  stronger  or  a  weaker  effect? 
Is  the  action  unified? 

Did  you  find  the  time  element  confusing  or  anywhere 
difficult  to  follow  ? 

What  details  mark  the  action  as  belonging  particularly 
to  Vermont? 

How  many  themes  do  you  find  in  the  narrative?  Are 
they  brought  into  essential  harmony?  What  purpose  of 
the  author  interests  you  most?  What  does  the  author 
mean  to  convey  in  the  recognition  of  Sam  Hod  and 


158     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

others  that  Jack's  toast  is  almost  identical  with  his 
grandfather's  ? 

What  do  you  think  of  the  introduction  and  the  empha- 
sis on  the  wine?  How  does  the  following  statement 
heighten  interest  ?  — "  that  liquor  was  consumed  in  the 
pledging  of  a  toast." 

Why  does  the  author  add  so  long  a  conclusion  after  the 
story  action  has  been  completed  ?  Is  he  wise  to  give  the 
final  place  of  emphasis  to  the  sentence,  "  All  over  Amer- 
ica her  name  is  legion  "  ?  Why  ? 


THE  BIG  STRANGER  ON 
DORCHESTER  HEIGHTS 

THE  STARTING  POINT.  Mr.  Pentz  states,  regarding 
the  story  and  its  inception,  "  Substantially  true  in  fact, 
it  was  told  and  retold  to  appreciative  friends ;  then  it  was 
written  at  their  suggestion.  Probably  it  gathered  moss 
during  its  latent  existence  and  probably  something  was 
lost.  .  .  ." 

Technically,  the  story  is  an  Incident.  It  has,  however, 
an  underlying  significance  elevating  it  above  the  Incident 
type.  This  significance  becomes  manifest  in  the  denoue- 
ment, which  reveals  the  influence  of  Lincoln. 

PRESENTATION.  The  story  is  told  by  the  omniscient 
author,  who  uses  Paul's  "  slant." 

SETTING.  South  Boston,  March,  1860.  Point  out  de- 
tails which  keep  the  locality  before  the  reader  from  be- 
ginning to  end.  Why  1860,  rather  than  1861  or  1862? 

PLOT.  The  plot  being  slight  requires  only  a  clear  ex- 
position of  events  in  natural  order.  The  author  has 
made  use  of  his  one  chance  to  create  suspense  and 
utilized  it  in  holding  up  the  name  of  the  Big  Stranger. 
One  suspects,  but  is  not  sure  until  the  last  words. 

CHARACTER.  The  main  value  of  the  story  lies  in  its  de- 
scription of  Lincoln,  both  in  the  words  of  the  author  — 
from  Paul's  angle  —  and  by  what  the  great  man  says 
and  does.  Which  is  more  forceful? 

Mr.  Pentz's  prescription  for  a  story  is  brief :  "  Hav- 
ing the  material  write  it  out."  He  believes,  further,  in 
the  use  of  simple  language.  "  The  average  reader  must 
not  be  sent  to  the  dictionary ;  it  divides  the  interest  and 


160     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

weakens  the  effect.  A  writer  should  eliminate  his  per- 
sonality altogether;  what  he  may  know  of  other  lan- 
guages, or  of  intricate  English,  will  not  interest  a  reader 
who  is  busy  with  a  villain  in  pursuit  of  the  heroine. 
'  The  play's  the  thing.'  " 


"  A  CERTAIN  RICH  MAN  — " 

CLASSIFICATION.  A  perfect  specimen  of  the  short- 
story,  even  of  the  extreme  type-form  since  all  the  unities 
are  beautifully  maintained.  The  setting  is  a  dinner  table 
in  a  home  of  wealth  and  refinement;  the  time  is  the 
present;  the  length  of  the  action  is,  perhaps,  an  hour. 

STARTING  POINT,  AND  FIRST  STAGES  OF  CONSTRUCTION. 
The  author  was  present  at  a  dinner  where  a  young  man 
of  wealth,  the  host,  remarked  in  the  course  of  a  discus- 
sion of  the  war  that  he  would  willingly  give  his  life  if 
through  that  sacrifice  he  could  bring  an  end  to  the  blood 
glut.  The  remark  impressed  every  one  deeply  and  was 
discussed  at  length.  After  due  thought,  Mr.  Perry  feel- 
ing the  "  story  "  in  the  situation,  decided  that  it  lay  in 
having  the  man  make  good.  He  mulled  the  matter  over 
for  weeks  before  finding  an  answer  to  his  next  difficulty 
"  In  what  way  could  he  make  good  ?  "  Then  there  oc- 
curred to  him  the  expedient  of  having  present  an  inventor 
who  had  invented  an  appliance  which  through  its  com- 
plete death  dealing  qualities  would  end  the  war  forth- 
with. Here,  then,  was  the  complete  thread  of  the  story. 
Characters  and  descriptive  background  followed  in  due 
course.  The  author  has  an  objection  to  sad  endings  and 
would  like  to  have  made  it  clear  that  the  man  came 
through  his  test  safely.  But  the  whole  spirit  of  the  story 
militated  against  this.  So  he  left  the  outcome  uncer- 
tain, but  the  inference  is  that  Colcord  yielded  his  life. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  There  are  nine  persons,  each 
deftly  made  a  living  part  of  the  assembly.  They  are,  in 
approximate  order  of  importance :  Nicholas  Colcord  and 
his  wife  Evelyn.  (They  may  be  spoken  of  as  untried 
gold)  ;  Professor  Simec  (the  assayer)  ;  Jeffery  Latham 

161 


162     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

and  Sybil  his  wife  (tried  gold)  ;  Arnold  Bates  (alloy)  ; 
Jerry  Dane  and  his  wife  Bessie  (baser  metal)  ;  Dr.  Alli- 
son and  his  wife(  ?). 

In  spite  of  the  rather  generous  number  of  characters, 
the  part  each  has  is  so  definite,  serving  by  contrast  and 
comparison  to  emphasize  the  main  character  —  Nicholas 
Colcord  —  as  to  seem  well-nigh  indispensable.  More- 
over, apart  from  plot  values  and  unity  of  effect,  the  num- 
ber at  the  table  works  for  verisimilitude.  It  is  just  the 
right  size  for  a  party  in  a  conservative  home,  and  it  em- 
braces the  variety  of  types  one  finds  in  any  similar 
group. 

The  dramatic  method  of  characterizing  is  used  to  great- 
est extent:  the  men  and  women  describe  themselves  in 
their  remarks  and  in  their  behavior,  particularly  in  the 
matter  of  measuring  up  to  the  test  proposed.  Go  through 
the  story  with  an  eye  to  the  speeches  of  each.  Is  any  one 
person  given  many  remarks?  Who  is  the  prominent 
spokesman  ?  Why  ? 

ANALYSIS  OF  PLOT  AS  PRESENTED.  The  first  signifi- 
cant step  in  the  action  lies  in  Nick's  remark  (page  399) 
that  he  would  give  his  life  if  in  so  doing  he  could  end 
the  war.  (The  foil  to  this  remark  is  in  Bates's,  "I'm 
with  Nick.") 

The  dramatic  climax  is  sounded  on  page  403 :  "  Sup- 
pose .  .  .  that  I  could  make  this  absurd  condition  .  .  . 
exist.  .  .  ."  It  is  emphasized  in  the  clear  call  on  page 
404 :  "  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  make  your  offer  good." 

The  climax  of  action  lies  in  Colcord's  words  (page 
408):  "When  do  you  want  me?"  (This  speech  is 
emphasized  by  contrast  in  Bates's,  "  I  withdraw  right 
here."  It  is  strengthened  by  Evelyn's  acceptance  of  her 
husband's  sacrifice.) 

The  denouement  is  left  to  the  reader. 

DETAILS.  Carefully  study  the  circumstances  preced- 
ing the  initial  impulse  of  the  story  action  noting  the 
details  of  preparation.  For  example,  the  "  national 
colors  merged  with  those  of  the  allied  nations  "  (page 


"A  CERTAIN  RICH  MAN—"  163 

391)  ;  "  Rumor  credited  to  him  at  least  one  of  the  dead- 
liest chemical  combinations"  (page  392);  "There's  a 
sort  of  grace  given,  I  fancy  "  (page  396)  ;  "  Sacrifice, 
Mrs.  Colcord"  (page  397)  deepening  the  note  of  pa- 
triotism. 

Whose  angle  of  narration  is  used?  Does  the  author 
anywhere  depart  from  it,  preferring  his  own  angle? 
Does  he  anywhere  seem  to  turn  from  the  angle  of  the 
chosen  one,  putting  her  under  the  spot-light,  instead? 
If  you  find  these  shifts,  can  you  justify  them  by  showing 
that  the  author  makes  a  gain  greater  than  the  loss  he 
sustains?  If  he  makes  no  shift,  how  does  he  widen 
the  narrow  range  afforded  only  one  person? 

By  what  preparation  does  Mr.  Perry  create  the  needed 
impression  that  the  Colcords  were  fully  aware  of  the 
sacrifice  involved?  (Note,  especially,  the  preparation 
in  Evelyn's  response  to  Latham's  comment,  page  393, 
.  .  ."you  make  me  shiver!") 

Page  405 :  "  He  raised  a  thin  forefinger  and  levelled 
it  along  the  table."  What  image  is  called  up? 

By  what  detailed  description  and  exposition  does  Mr. 
Perry  make  you  "  believe,"  at  least  momentarily,  that 
Simec  had  really  invented  the  appliance? 

What  locale  is  suggested,  outside  the  immediate  set- 
ting? Does  it  matter,  in  a  narrative  of  this  kind? 

GENERAL.  Mr.  Perry's  views  should  be  spread  abroad 
to  all  who  would  master  the  art  of  story  writing.  "  No 
art  is  rarer,  or  more  difficult  of  attainment.  .  .  .  First 
there  is  the  plot.  I  think  the  good  short  story  de- 
mands a  plot.  Stylistic  writing  designed  to  atone  for 
the  lack  of  a  definite  idea,  or  to  stand  in  lieu  of  a  defi- 
nitely worked  out  plot  is  not  to  my  w^y  of  thinking  a 
pure  short  story.  There  must  be  a  plot,  a  plot  peculiar 
to  itself  and  peculiar  to  the  medium  in  which  it  is  set 
forth.  Very  rarely,  I  believe,  may  the  perfect  short 
story  plot  be  adapted  to  any  other  vehicle.  Nine  times 
out  of  ten  it  would  not  serve  as  the  motif  of  the  play, 
the  novel,  the  film  or  the  sketch.  The  piece  of  short 


164     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

fiction,  thus,  is  sui  generis.  Again  the  scope  is  limited. 
There  may  be  no  leisurely  characterization,  no  extended 
dissertation;  descriptions  are  admissible  only  where  they 
assist  in  carrying  on  the  action  —  or  at  least  do  not  in- 
terfere with  it  —  and  in  the  telling  of  the  tale  there  is 
no  place  in  the  scheme  for  aught  save  the  ultimate  ob- 
jective. 

"  Thus  carried  out  and  presented  in  type  we  have  some- 
thing which  we  may  regard  as  the  polished  gem  of  litera- 
ture, establishing  a  mood  in  the  reader  out  of  all  propor- 
tion to  its  size  —  and  perhaps  its  importance.  For  the 
short  story  very  largely  is  designed  for  entertainment, 
and  rarely  bears  the  moral  purpose  of  the  great  novel  or 
the  didactic  intent  of  the  essay. 

"  I  say  '  very  largely/  There  are,  of  course,  short 
stories  written  with  a  purpose  —  some  great  ones  —  but 
that  purpose  is  best  realized  when  the  essential  charac- 
teristics of  the  story  form  are  observed,  when  the  reader 
in  other  words  feels  whatever  emotions,  or  grasps  what- 
ever lesson  the  writer  intended  to  convey,  through  the 
medium  of  a  strong,  deeply  marked  plot  carried  with 
precision  from  situation  to  clash  to  denouement." — 
Lawrence  Perry. 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY 

STARTING  POINT  AND  FIRST  PROCESSES.  "  It  so  hap- 
pens in  the  case  of  '  The  Path  of  Glory '  that  I  can  give 
you  exactly  the  germinal  idea  from  which  the  story 
sprang.  Three  months  before  I  wrote  it  a  friend  put 
into  my  hand  two  letters.  The  first  was  written  by  Piatt 
Andrew  of  The  American  Ambulance  at  Paris  and  gave 
the  full  details  of  a  wonderful  funeral  accorded  a  young 
American  volunteer  driver  who  was  killed  on  an  early 
trip;  the  second  was  the  last  personal  letter  of  the  young 
man  to  his  family  —  the  letter  of  a  young  man  of  educa- 
tion and  breeding  and  in  no  way  similar  to  the  Nat  letter 
of  my  story  save  as  they  both  expressed  a  fundamental 
human  longing.  Copies  were  being  made  and  I  was 
offered  some.  I  carried  mine  home  and  laid  them  by. 
But  they  haunted  me.  '  There's  a  story  there/  I  thought. 
However,  I  didn't  seem  to  get  a  story  —  at  once.  Never- 
theless my  mind  played  with  the  letters.  That  funeral! 
The  story  of  course  lay  there,  but  how  to  set  it  off, 
enhance  it  properly.  One  day  thinking  it  over  idly  —  I 
have  a  vagabond  mind  and  never  attack  a  problem  in  any 
logical  fashion  —  the  solution  dawned  quite  suddenly. 
It  would  be  best  set  off  by  contrast,  of  course,  with  some 
unthinkably  shabby  funeral,  and  would  receive  its  great- 
est force  by  being  reconstructed  through  the  minds  of  a 
people  to  whom  a  funeral  is  a  precious  event." — Mary 
Brecht  Pulver. 

After  a  statement  to  the  effect  that  she  knows  "peo- 
ple to  whom  the  trappings  and  ceremonials  of  death 
take  on  a  sense  of  privilege,"  Mrs.  Pulver  continues : 

"  Just  here  I  got  some  paper  and  a  pencil  and  wrote 
the  story.  Or  rather  it  wrote  itself  —  as  my  stories 

165 


i66     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

usually  do.  When  I  began  describing  the  lonely  farm 
in  which  my  people  lived  I  had  not  the  least  idea  who 
the  people  were  —  how  many,  what  sex,  age,  race,  or 
previous  condition  of  servitude.  There  was  a  family 
in  that  house.  A  family  preferably  in  hard  luck.  Then 
at  the  foot  of  the  hill  I  saw  a  lame  boy  driving  a  cow. 
I  walked  along  with  him  —  and  recognizing  him  as  Luke, 
and  acquainting  myself  with  his  ideas  and  frame  of 
mind,  I  knew  of  course  who  his  people  were,  how  many, 
their  habits,  their  names  — '  all's  to  it,'  as  Luke  would 
have  said. 

"  And  so  I  told  their  story  —  and  about  how  one  of 
them  went  to  France  and  got  killed.  And  how  indi- 
rectly he  helped  them  out  of  their  hard  luck.  That  is 
all  there  was  to  '  The  Path  of  Glory/  " 

PLOT.  Note,  first,  that  since  the  presentation  is  con- 
sistently from  Luke's  angle,  the  plot  events  are  given 
in  chronological  order  for  him;  but  that  from  the  point 
of  view  of  actual  occurrence  they  are  presented  with  some 
inversion.  (For  example,  the  experience  of  Mrs.  Haynes 
in  the  town  precedes  her  summary  to  Luke.)  In  this 
respect,  the  author  —  perhaps  unconsciously  —  shows 
ability  to  mass  plot  material  to  best  advantage  through 
artistic  adherence  to  one  angle  of  narration.  Many 
short-story  writers  appear  to  understand  this  principle, 
yet  fail  to  master  it. 

Initial  Impulse:  The  story  impulse  lies,  dormant, 
in  the  business  of  Matt's  funeral.  Where  does  it 
become  active? 

Main  Steps  in  Action:  Nat's  visit  home.  A  di- 
rect forecast  of  the  climax  lies  in  the  reason  for  his 
going  to  Europe.  Another  important  stage  is  the 
death  and  burial  of  Father  Haynes,  "  Paw." 

Dramatic  Climax:  The  combination  of  "  Paw's  " 
home-made  burial  and  Nat's  death.  The  two  come 
near  together  and  constitute  the  lowest  turn  of  the 
Haynes  wheel  of  fortune.  In  Nat's  death  lies  the 
possibility  for  change.  (In  the  presentation  of 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY  167 

the  plot,  this  climax  is  reported  through  the  letter,  the 
reception  of  which  is,  in  itself,  a  step  toward  the 
climax  of  action.) 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:  The  letter 
telling  of  Nat's  death.  Mrs.  Haynes's  stony  grief. 
The  second  letter,:  Nat's  funeral  and  the  croix  de 
guerre.  "  Maw  "  awakes ;  she  is  "  going  downtown." 
She  shows  the  letter,  and  soon  understands  that 
Nat  has  given  glory  to  Stony  Brook.  The  letter 
is  to  be  published.  It  is  to  be  read  aloud  at  the 
schoolhouse  and  Nat's  story  retold.  There  will  be  a 
memorial  service  at  the  churches.  There  will  be 
a  big  public  service  in  the  Town  Hall.  (Other 
details  make  the  change  of  fortune  explicit  and 
complete.) 

Climax  of  Action:  "  Maw "  returns  home,  re- 
habilitated, and  rehearses  the  day's  experience  to 
Luke.  He  recognizes  that  Nat  has  done  "  somethin* 
big  for  us  all." 

CHARACTERS.  If  one  test  of  the  "  short-story "  is 
that  no  character  should  enter  who  does  not  assist  in 
the  action,  will  this  story  stand  it?  What,  for  example, 
is  Tom's  part?  Would  you  give  him  up?  Is  it  permis- 
sible to  introduce  characters  to  enrich  the  action  ?  There 
is  no  question  about  the  value  from  a  literary  considera- 
tion. 

The  part  of  each  main  character  is  well-defined.  Luke, 
self-conscious,  lame  and  sensitive,  offers  the  medium 
through  whom  the  story  is  told.  "  Maw  "  suffers ;  it  is 
she  to  whom  the  turns  of  fortune  mean  most ;  she  is  the 
chief  character.  "  Paw "  is  the  cause  of  the  Haynes 
status  in  the  community.  Nat,  the  prodigal,  is  the  one 
through  whom  rehabilitation  comes. 

The  personalities  that  enrich  the  action  are:  I.  Clem, 
his  wife,  and  S'norta.  They  do  so  (a)  by  intensifying 
"  Maw's  "  sense  of  poverty,  (b)  by  furnishing  contrast 
in  worldly  goods  and  in  character;  2.  Tom.  His  mis- 


i68     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

fortune  enhances  the  wretchedness  of  the  main  actors, 
and  the  probability  of  his  being  made  sound  in  mind 
emphasizes  their  changed  fortunes.  3.  Background  char- 
acters. All,  practically,  whom  Mrs.  Haynes  meets  on 
her  famous  day  in  the  town. 

Apply  to  these  primary  and  secondary  characters  the 
tests  suggested  in  previous  exercises.  Do  they  live? 

SETTING.  What  does  "  Stony  Brook,  New  York " 
suggest  by  way  of  physical  and  spiritual  conditions? 
How  is  the  locality  an  integral  part  of  the  atmosphere? 

DETAILS.  The  "  human  appeal "  in  this  narrative  will 
make  it  hard  for  any  reader,  however  crusty,  to  refrain 
from  tears  or  an  awakened  sense  of  pity.  By  what  meas- 
ures has  the  author  brought  about  this  desired  result? 
The  list  should  be  long.  After  you  have  made  it,  see 
how  far  you  can  generalize  from  it  as  to  provocation 
of  emotional  reaction. 

"  What  I  like  in  reading  a  story,"  Mrs.  Pulver  says, 
"  is  a  simple  gracious  English,  a  shade  whimsical  per- 
haps, that  concerns  itself  with  a  situation  and  people 
who  palpitate,  in  whose  fate  you  become  sincerely  in- 
terested, as  humans,  not  merely  a  clever  bit  of  literary 
bridge.  And  the  whole  must  be  laced  for  me  with  a 
dash  of  humor,  that  tender  fun-poking  that  will  save 
the  written  human  appeal  from  being  heart-throb  stuff 
or  the  handiwork  of  a  sob-sister." 

Some  examples  of  contrast  have  already  been  offered. 
Point  out  others,  even  stronger. 

In  Division  II  (pages  421-425)  the  focus  is  on  Nat, 
the  action  seemingly  held  up,  meanwhile.  Did  you,  in 
reading,  feel  this  long  delay  to  be  irksome,  or  were  you 
compensated  by  the  matter  itself  and  the  vision  of  its 
promise? 

In  Division  IV,  what  intensifying  value  has  the  rain? 

In  Division  V,  what  intensifying  value  has  the  first 
sentence?  — "  It  was  dusk  when  Maw  came  back  ;  dusk  of 
a  clear  day,  with  a  rosy  sunset  off  behind  the  hills." 

GENERAL.     Mary  Brecht  Pulver  declares  she  is  afraid 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY  169 

she  is  that  "  hooted-at  and  disbelieved-in  thing,"  an  in- 
spirational writer.  "  Given  a  major  premise,  an  argu- 
ment, some  slight  flash  of  idea,  for  a  chart  and  I  am 
ready  to  sail  over  the  smooth  white  main.  My  crew  will 
come  to  me  ready  named,  ready  behavioured,  and  will 
navigate  my  bark  for  me.  .  .  .  All  of  my  stories  are 
pictures.  They  unroll  like  a  cinema  m  colors  just  off 
my  left  shoulder.  They  move  so  fast  my  wrist  aches 
to  keep  up  with  them.  I  never  rewrite  anything  un- 
less an  editor  requests  it.  My  first  draft  is  the  only  one. 
As  you  see,  this  is  not  intellectual  but  emotional  work. 
I  can  do  only  a  thousand  words  at  a  sitting  because  of 
the  emotional  strain.  This  seems  deplorable,  consider- 
ing the  product  but  it  seems  necessary.  Like  the  Jap 
in  the  legend,  I  must  mix  a  little  blood  with  my  clay 
to  get  any  kind  of  pottery." 

At  first,  this  passage  would  seem  to  say,  "  There's  no 
use  trying  to  learn  to  write."  And  it  may  be  urged  here 
that  the  young  fiction  aspirant  who  feels  impelled  to 
create,  and  according  to  his  own  bent,  should  give  his 
genius  a  full  chance.  Any  student  may  glean  this,  how- 
ever, from  the  words  of  Mrs.  Pulver :  Without  emotion 
of  one's  own,  success  is  impossible. 


EXTRA  MEN 

STARTING  POINT.  "  Somewhere  I  read  in  the  summer 
of  1917  a  reference  to  a  legend  of  either  a  poor  saint  liv- 
ing as  a  hermit  or  a  holy  abbess  (I  can't  really  remember 
which)  who  entertained  a  company  of  horsemen  one 
night.  In  the  morning  the  field  where  the  horses  had 
grazed  was  untouched  and  the  realization  came  that  a 
troop  of  angels  had  been  that  way.  I  am  sorry  not  to  be 
more  definite  as  to  this  source. 

"  Washington  and  the  war  are  wholly  of  my  own  inven- 
tion, and  the  miracle  of  the  meadow  grass  became  inci- 
dental as  I  wrote  the  story,  which  I  had  at  first  planned 
to  call  '  The  Green  Meadow/  As  to  the  actual  processes 
of  invention  I  should  say  no  one  can  quite  explain  the 
least  important  of  them." — Harrison  Rhodes. 

CLASSIFICATION.  On  concluding  "  Extra  Men  "  if  a 
reader  asks,  "  What  is  its  purpose  ?  "  he  will  reply  in  sub- 
stance, to  his  self-query :  *'  To  convey  the  thought  that 
spirits  of  our  heroic  dead  support  the  boys  at  the  front." 
Theme  is  dominant.  "  I  cannot  say  that  I  believe  in  the 
supernatural  or  miracles/'  Mr.  Rhodes  states,  "  but  I 
believe  the  story  of  *  Extra  Men '  to  be  essentially  and 
symbolically  true." 

PLOT.  Plot  sinks,  therefore,  into  comparative  insig- 
nificance. A  single  incident  serves  to  convey  the  truth. 
Whereas  the  miracle  of  the  meadow  grass  might  have 
been  the  chief  event,  its  purpose  here  is  rather  that  of  a 
detail,  substantiating  the  visit. 

CHARACTERS.  The  spirit  of  George  Washington  is  the 
main  character  of  the  incident.  Since,  however,  it  is 
fitting  that  the  past  be  subordinated  to  the  present  (in 
conformity  with  the  author's  purpose),  the  old  lady  is 

170 


EXTRA  MEN  171 

introduced  previous  to  the  story-action,  and  is,  therefore, 
the  main  figure  of  the  entire  narrative. 

Notice  the  suggestive  method  used  in  identifying  the 
spirit  of  Washington  —  nowhere  is  he  openly  named. 
For  example,  he  speaks  of  Arlington,  "  the  house  which 
once  belonged  to  a  relative  of  mine  " ;  and  says  elsewhere, 
"  You  would  not  now  know  Valley  Forge." 

Mrs.  Buchan  was  favored  with  the  visit  not  by  acci- 
dent. The  motivation  for  it  is  unobtrusively  and  per- 
haps even  unconsciously  conveyed,  but  none  the  less  with 
potence.  How  has  the  author  enlisted  sympathy  for 
her? 

What  is  the  role  of  young  Buchan?  Is  there  a  reason 
for  his  name  — "  George  "  ? 

What  plot  value  has  Al  Fenton,  "  the  farmer  "  ? 

SETTING.  The  scene  is  important,  since  nowhere  else 
could  the  action  have  occurred  with  equal  fitness.  '*  The 
quaint  name  "of  the  hamlet  at  once  calls  up  the  historic 
episode  of  Washington  crossing  the  Delaware. 

ATMOSPHERE.  The  realistic  mood  of  the  story  con- 
tributes to  its  power  of  conviction. 


THE  WAITING  YEARS 

CLASSIFICATION.  This  short-story  illustrates  group- 
ing for  sake  of  climactic  effect.  Events  of  forty  years 
are  illuminated  by  the  happenings  of  a  day.  The  narra- 
tive has  both  an  outer  and  an  inner  action. 

PLOT.  The  plot  of  the  combined  inner  and  outer 
story  is  quite  simple.  The  initial  impulse  consists  of 
Mark  Faraday's  interest  in  Miss  Allison  Clyde.  The 
dramatic  climax,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  lies  in  the  rind- 
ing of  the  love-letters  which  his  Uncle  William  had 
written  and  never  sent  to  Allison.  The  climax  of  action 
is  his  handing  the  package  of  letters  to  Allison. 

The  inner  plot  is  found  in  the  letters.  The  initial  im- 
pulse of  William's  love  for  Allison  operates  until  the 
dramatic  climax.  This  dramatic  climax  is  William's 
knowledge  that  he  must  die  and  his  feeling  that  he  must 
never  speak  again  to  Allison  of  his  passion.  Up  to  the 
climax  of  action  (his  death)  his  letters  have  the  note 
of  renunciation ;  before  the  dramatic  climax  they  looked 
to  union  with  the  girl  he  adored. 

The  two  parts  are  linked  in  William's  giving  the  pack- 
age to  Allison.  Would  you  have  been  satisfied  to  see 
him  read  them  without  passing  them  on  to  her?  Are 
you  satisfied  to  construct  your  own  denouement  —  Alli- 
son's emotion,  etc.? 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Since  development  or  deteriora- 
tion of  character  is  difficult  to  indicate  within  the  com- 
pass of  the  short-story,  this  specimen  shows  a  distinct 
advantage  in  massing  the  incidents  near  the  climax.  For 
Allison  may  be  shown  finished,  perfect, —  the  lovely 
"  personage,"  to  quote  the  oracle,  Mrs.  Herrick, —  whom 
Mark  finds.  At  the  same  time,  her  development  is  made 

172 


THE  WAITING  YEARS  173 

logical  by  the  emphasis  on  her  youthful  beauty  of  mind 
and  heart  as  her  lover  saw  it.  Study,  in  the  usual  way, 
the  many  methods  by  which  Mrs.  Roof  has  made  vivid 
her  portrait.  Mark's  point  of  view  regarding  her  is 
particularly  good ;  also,  the  foil,  Stella,  serves  adequately 
to  set  her  off.  Observe,  too,  the  relation  she  bears  to 
her  setting,  her  fitness  for  it. 

Since  Mark  is  the  one  through  whom  the  reader  learns 
the  facts  of  the  action,  his  mind  is  open  to  the  reader's 
vision.  Is  there  too  much  of  the  artist  about  him,  not 
enough  of  the  man?  Would  you  have  him  different? 
Is  he  the  nephew  of  his  uncle,  from  a  consideration  of 
sentiment  ? 

What  effect  is  produced  by  the  names,  in  connection 
with  their  owners  ?  —  Mark,  Stella,  Allison,  William  ? 

DETAILS.  What  is  the  intensifying  worth  of  the  sun- 
dial? Of  the  buzzing  bee?  A  second  line  of  interest 
may  be  said  to  lie  in  the  music  theme,  which  intensifies 
the  line  of  the  love  interest  and  Mark's  interest  in  Miss 
Allison. 

Do  you  feel  jarred  or  pleased  by  the  shift  to  Allison's 
angle  (in  her  letter,  page  204)  ? 

Does  Mark  too  easily  come  across  the  daguerreotype, 
or  does  the  casual  manner  of  his  finding  it  fit  into  the 
smooth  and  leisurely  progress  of  the  story  ? 

Why  is  the  picture  of  Allison  "  standing  by  the  tall 
mantle  in  the  candle-light  "  one  that  lingers  ?  Why  does 
one  remember  the  picture  of  Beatrix  (in  "  Henry  Es- 
mond ")  coming  down  the  stairs  in  white,  with  cherry 
colored  ribbons,  holding  the  candle  in  her  hand? 

Do  the  letters  of  William  strike  you  as  having  been 
composed  by  a  man  or  a  woman?  Why? 


ZELIG 

CLASSIFICATION.  "  Zelig  "  is  a  character  story,  with 
decided  emphasis  on  the  character.  There  is  just  enough 
plot  to  lift  it  from  the  realm  of  the  sketch  into  that  of 
the  narrative. 

PLOT.  The  struggle  lies  in  Zelig's  attempt  to  save 
sufficient  money  for  returning  to  Russia.  It  is  unsuc- 
cessful. 

What  is  the  initial  impulse,  the  first  hint  of  a  story 
motive  ? 

The  dramatic  climax  is  preceded  by  a  minor  one: 
the  death  of  Zelig's  son.  The  real  turning  point,  the 
dramatic  climax,  is  made  up  of  the  wife's  statements 
(page  224),  the  most  important  of  which  is  the  reference 
to  the  son's  death. 

The  climax  of  action  and  the  denouement  fall  together 
in  the  final  speech  of  the  story,  being  suggested  rather 
than  stated. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  The  old  man  is  characterized  by 
the  author's  description  (the  direct  method,  so  called)  ; 
by  the  summary  of  what  his  brethren  felt  and  said  (com- 
bination of  direct  and  indirect  methods)  ;  by  the  opinion 
his  fellow-workmen  held  of  him ;  and  by  Zelig's  own  acts 
and  speeches  in  addition  to  his  habitual  manner.  Has 
he  the  greater  part  of  the  stage  for  most  of  the  time? 
Purpose  of  his  wife?  Son?  Grandson?  Of  the  back- 
ground characters? 

SETTING.  "  New  York's  East  Side."  The  second 
value  of  the  story  lies  in  the  setting.  Indeed,  the  char- 
acter value  would  be  lost  without  it,  and  the  unification 
is  therefore  noteworthy.  Is  the  setting  made  contribu- 
tory to  atmosphere,  also? 

174 


ZELIG  175 

DETAILS.  Are  you  satisfied  with  the  ending?  Is  the 
sense  of  tragedy  at  the  failure  of  the  human  element 
striving  against  circumstance  relieved  by  the  recognition 
of  Zelig's  rehabilitation,  or  revivification?  Has  he,  in 
a  deeper  sense,  conquered  in  that  he  has  conquered  self  ? 

GENERAL  METHODS.  That  Benjamin  Rosenblatt  cre- 
ates his  characters,  not  "  lifting  "  them  from  life,  is  mani- 
fest in  his  statement :  "  As  to  Zelig,  I  really  haven't  met 
any  one  just  like  him,  so  that  I  couldn't  have  had  any 
individual  case  before  my  mind's  eye  when  I  wrote  the 
story." 


THE  MENORAH 

STARTING  POINT.  "  A  few  years  ago  I  passed  one  of 
the  congested  East  Side  streets  just  when  a  fire  broke 
out  in  one  of  the  tenements.  I  saw  climbing  down  the 
fire  escapes  of  the  burning  building  a  very  old  Jewess 
dragging  some  of  her  belongings  with  her.  Among  these 
belongings  was  a  pair  of  old-fashioned,  common-place 
candlesticks  used  for  '  Sabbath  blessing.'  That  started 
me  on  the  way  to  '  The  Menorah.'  " —  Benjamin  Rosen- 
blatt. 

CLASSIFICATION.  "  The  Menorah  "  offers  itself  as  a  fit 
companion-piece  to  "  Zelig."  In  the  latter,  the  setting  is 
New  York,  the  character  is  an  old  man,  the  struggle  is 
successfully  unsuccessful.  In  this,  the  setting  is  "  a  lit- 
tle town  in  Russia,"  the  chief  character  is  an  old  woman, 
the  struggle  is  successfully  unsuccessful.  It  is  to  be 
remarked  that  the  two  settings  are  equally  well-known 
to  Mr.  Rosenblatt. 

PLOT.  The  struggle  is  on  Lea's  part  to  preserve  ap- 
pearances in  her  rapidly  deteriorating  circumstances, 
to  find  a  match  for  her  daughter,  and  to  keep  the  Meno- 
rah. The  last  is  the  most  important.  Although  she 
fails,  she  does  so  in  a  way  to  relieve  the  reader's  distress 
at  her  failing. 

A  minor  climax  is  in  the  death  of  the  younger  girl. 

The  dramatic  climax  is  the  securing  of  the  proper 
young  man  as  bridegroom  for  her  daughter. 

With  the  dramatic  climax  is  bound  up  the  climax  of 
action  (of  the  largest  struggle)  :  the  Menorah  must  be 
sold. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  The  story  is  told,  as  was  "  Zelig," 
from  the  omniscient  author's  point  of  view  with  the 

176 


THE  MENORAH  177 

omniscience  exercised  over  the  chief  character.  Study 
the  portrayal  of  Lea,  as  you  were  recommended  to  study 
that  of  Zelig.  What  is  the  purpose  of  Reb  Schloime? 
Compare  him  with  "  Paw  "  Haynes  in  "  The  Path  of 
Glory  "  as  to  his  function. 

DETAILS.  These  two  stories  by  Benjamin  Rosenblatt 
perform  a  service  for  the  Jewish  peopfe,  in  rationalizing 
the  desire  for  money,  a  desire  about  which  volumes  have 
been  written.  It  is  to  be  observed  in  these  narratives 
that  the  possession  of  worldly  treasure  in  each  case  is 
secondary  to  another  ideal.  In  Lea's  case  it  is  her  love 
for  her  ancestors  and  their  glory  joined  to  a  sensitiveness 
at  the  fall  in  her  worldly  station.  What  is  the  primary 
ideal  in  "  Zelig"? 

What  clue  to  the  disposal  of  the  candelabrum  occurs 
earlier  in  the  narrative? 

What  national  and  racial  customs  intensify  the  set- 
ting? 

"  To  me,  a  narrative  that  has  for  its  aim  to  interest  the 
reader  in  its  plot  is  an  anecdote,  be  its  plot  ever  so  thick. 
A  narrative  that  aims  to  interest  the  reader  in  a  slice  of 
palpitating  life  —  the  joys  or  sorrows  of  people  —  be  its 
plot  ever  so  thin,  I  call  it  a  short  story." — Benjamin 
Rosenblatt. 


THE  SURVIVORS 

CLASSIFICATION.  This  work,  and  the  following  one, 
"  Penance "  might  be  characterized  as  stories  that 
are  short,  rather  than  short-stories.  If  the  point  were 
argued,  however,  it  might  be  said  that  because  of  the 
situation,  the  theme  quality,  and  the  historic  interest,  all 
of  which  contribute  to  unity  of  effect,  the  two  are  out- 
lying specimens  of  the  genre.  The  time  of  the  action, 
here,  is  forty  years.  So  it  is  in  "  The  Waiting  Years  " 
(Page  172),  but  whereas  there  the  time  of  the  action 
is  only  twenty-four  hours  (see  the  management)  here  it 
is  the  full  forty. 
PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:  The  initial  impulse  of  the  strug- 
gle lies  in  the  unseen,  and  therefore  unreturned, 
wave  of  Adam's  hand.  The  struggle  lies  in  Adam's 
own  soul.  He  holds  out  against  the  friendly  over- 
tures of  Henry  at  the  same  time  he  desires  Henry  to 
ask  him  for  something.  He  wishes  a  position  of 
superiority.  Is  the  termination  of  the  struggle  suc- 
cessful? 

Steps  toward  Dramatic  Climax:  Fill  in  the  chief 
incidents  occurring  in  the  forty-year  period.  Do 
they  form  part  of  the  transition?  Why  does  the 
author  emphasize  the  time  element? 

Dramatic  Climax:  Ed  Green's  being  kept  in  bed 
is  really  the  turning  situation,  since  it  means  that 
Henry  must  walk  alone,  and  Adam  will  have  his  long 
desired  opportunity  of  serving  Henry. 

What  are  the  immediate  steps  preceding  the  climax 
of  action? 


THE  SURVIVORS  179 

Climax  of  Action:  "  Henry's  face  blanched  .  .  . 
Henry's  step  faltered  and  grew  uncertain." 

Denouement:  Adam  joins  Henry:  they  walk  to- 
gether. 

THEME.  It  arrives  fully  in  the  reader's  understanding 
the  significance  of  the  denouement,  or- seeing  in  it  a  sym- 
bolic unity  between  North  and  South. 

DETAILS.  What  trait  of  human  nature  is  displayed 
in  Adam?  Is  it  consistent  in  its  operations? 

What  is  the  setting?  What  integrative  worth  has  it? 
How  greatly  does  the  possibility  of  a  "  story,"  in  the 
first  place,  depend  upon  it? 


PENANCE 

CLASSIFICATION.  See  classification  of  "  The  Surviv- 
ors." Here  the  elements  all  work  toward  unity  of  effect : 
even  the  thirty  year  period  contributes  to  the  same  unity. 
It  is  even  necessary  to  the  working  out  of  the  penance. 
(Could  it  have  been  massed  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  the 
reader  the  same  consciousness  of  retribution  as  it  here 
conveys?)  But  the  length  of  the  action  is  not  the  length 
of  the  best  short-story  action. 

"  Penance "  provides  an  interesting  companion-piece 
to  "  The  Survivors."  Notice  that  whereas  in  the  former 
instance  the  initial  incident  was  separated  by  the  long 
space  from  the  turning  point  of  the  action ;  here  the  plot 
is  completed  except  for  the  fact  that  Buckingham's  under- 
standing (the  denouement)  comes  after  thirty  years. 

PLOT.  The  initial  impulse  lies  in  Buckingham's  inter- 
est in  Minnie. 

Fill  in  the  steps  that  follow  immediately,  culminat- 
ing in 

The   Dramatic    Climax:    Minnie    detains    Buck- 
ingham. 
Fill  in  the  steps  that  precede 

The  Climax  of  Action:  Buckingham  loses  the 
battle :  the  tide  of  war  is  turned. 

Steps  toivard  Denouement:  They  consist  in  a 
summary  of  the  penance.  What  contributory  value 
has  the  idea  ".  .  .  she  kept  before  his  eyes  the  girl's 
eyes"  (page  292)?  After  thirty  years  he  returns 
to  the  battlefield. 

Denouement:  Buckingham  learns  of  the  trick  to 
detain  him. 

180 


PENANCE  181 

DETAILS.  What  is  your  opinion  of  Buckingham?  By 
what  methods  did  you  receive  the  data  on  which  you  base 
it? 

Where  is  the  guide  (page  292)  first  mentioned?  Why 
is  this  an  instance  of  good  workmanship? 

Is  it  better  that  Minnie  drop  out  of  the  story,  not  to 
reappear  ? 

"  Minnie  stood  on  the  stairway  and  looked  down  at 
him,  the  light  from  the  candle  in  her  hand  flickering  over 
her."  (Page  287.)  See  the  query  on  "The  Waiting 
Years,"  page  173. 


FEET  OF  GOLD 

CLASSIFICATION.  This  is  one  of  a  series  of  stories  cen- 
tering around  the  life  of  Ferdinand  Taillandy,  a  lovable 
hero  akin  to  William  J.  Locke's  "  Beloved  Vagabond  " 
and  "  Aristide  Pujol."  In  such  a  series  it  is  not  neces- 
sary or  even  desirable  that  the  short-story  type  be  sought. 
All  the  narratives,  from  start  to  finish,  as  a  complete 
series,  are  more  likely  to  reveal  a  general  structure  cul- 
minating in  a  climax  (which  will  probably  require  a 
whole  story)  than  any  one  of  them  is  likely  to  possess 
definite  and  clear-cut  mechanism. 

The  three  necessary  stages  of  narrative,  according  to 
Aristotle,  are  beginning,  middle  and  end.  These  stages, 
as  to  action,  are  well-defined  in  the  present  story.  But 
one  feels  at  the  beginning  that  here  is  a  hero  brought 
over  from  a  preceding  adventure,  as  one  knows  at  the 
end  that  he  is  off  for  new  experiences.  Is  the  action  in 
regard  to  Diane  complete? 
PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:  Taillandy  meets  Diane.  No 
particular  struggle  is  initiated,  however.  Taillandy 
merely  takes  Diane  under  his  protection,  here  in 
Paris,  and  after  some  days  leaves  with  her  in  a  two- 
wheeled  cart. 

Climax  of  Action:  Diane  is  restored  to  her 
mother;  Taillandy  again  becomes  a  wanderer. 

Body  of  Story:  Among  the  chief  points  of  in- 
terest are  Taillandy's  reversion  to  the  boulevardier 
type,  and  his  writing  the  poem  inspired  by  Diane. 
Mention  others. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  For  what  reasons  do  you  like. 
Taillandy?  Wherein  lies  the  significance  of  "Feet  of 

182 


FEET  OF  GOLD  183 

Gold"?  Read  the  final  story  in  this  series,  "At  the 
End  of  the  Road,"  and  observe  whether  the  author  has 
kept  Taillandy's  character  consistent.  Take  note  of  the 
characters  who  know  Taillandy  in  the  present  narrative, 
observe  the  feeling  each  has  for  him,  and  see  how  well 
Mr.  Smith  has  used  their  opinions  to  emphasize  Tail- 
landy's character  as  described.  What  does  Taillandy 
think  of  each  of  the  other  characters? 

By  what  means  has  the  author  chiefly  pictured  Diane? 
How  has  she  been  enhanced  by  the  two  settings  ?  What 
interaction  have  character  and  setting  throughout  the 
story  ? 

DETAILS,  What  value  has  the  following  statement  as 
compared  with  the  more  direct  one,  "  Taillandy  was  gen- 
erous "  ? 

"  Of  that  thousand  francs  Taillandy  spent  seven  hun- 
dred and  ninety-six  during  the  next  four  days  —  ninety- 
six,  possibly,  on  himself,  and  the  balance  on  his  friends." 

What  other   characteristic   is   implied,   also? 

Study  the  management  of  suspense  (pages  313,  314, 
315).  Why  are  you  held  waiting? 

Why  (on  page  317)  did  Taillandy  whisper  to  the 
driver  ? 

Why  (page  298)  did  Diane  weep  at  the  mention  of 
Madame  Nicolas's  name? 

What  place  references  keep  the  locale  before  you? 

How  in  the  speeches  and  manner  of  the  characters  are 
you  kept  aware  of  the  French  race? 


SOLITAIRE 

STARTING  POINT.  "  You  ask  about  the  origin  of  *  Soli- 
taire/ which  chances  to  be  rather  easier  to  trace  than  the 
origin  of  most  of  the  stories  I  have  written,  since  I  more 
often  begin  with  an  abstract  l  idea '  and  work  outward 
to  character  and  plot.  When  a  story  begins  otherwise  I 
have  discovered  (and  all  such  things  are  matters  of  dis- 
covery after  the  fact,  and  never  of  premeditation)  that  it 
is  almost  invariably  the  result  of  some  purely  visual  im- 
pression of  a  single  person,  detached  from  any  incident  or 
complication.  A  stranger,  seen  once,  who  recurs  again 
and  again  to  my  mind,  and  about  whom  my  curiosity  in- 
creases, I  have  learned  to  rely  upon,  in  a  kind  of  occult 
unstatable  way,  to  bring  home  his  own  plot. 

"  The  opening  scene  of  '  Solitaire  '  is  an  exact  trans- 
cript of  one  of  those  visual  impressions.  I  did  see  the 
man  who  afterward  became  '  Corey '  in  the  restaurant  of 
a  small  Paris  hotel.  My  vis-a-vis  did  say,  '  Look  at  the 
American ! '  and  I  did  turn  to  meet  the  twinkle  I  have 
described  in  the  story.  The  curious  thing  is  that  I  can- 
not now  remember  whether  he  wore  a  decorative  ribbon 
or  not.  My  impression  is  that  he  did  not,  for  it  was  not 
until  several  weeks  later  that  the  idea  of  decorations  as  a 
*  motive '  occurred  to  me.  What  mattered,  what  really 
roused  my  curiosity,  was  my  surprise  at  seeing  him  there, 
when  I  knew  nothing  at  all  about  the  man, —  my  imme- 
diate sense  of  his  playing  a  strange  role,  of  his  being  away 
from  home.  He  was  a  physician,  he  had  been  working  in 
the  Balkans,  and  he  was  going  back  again  the  next  day. 
Also  he  had  been  in  Russia.  These  things  he  told  me 
after  dinner  in  the  salon,  when  we  talked  together;  and 

184 


SOLITAIRE  185 

he  was  from  the  Middle  West,  and  called  it  '  God's 
country  '  and  said  he  wanted  to  get  back.  I  did  not  see 
him  after  that  night,  but  he  kept  coming  into  my  mind, 
and  each  time  I  would  wonder  how  he  had  ever  come  into 
my  mind,  and  each  time  I  would  wonder  how  he  had  ever 
come  to  leave  his  home  in  the  Middle  West,  and  in  the  end 
it  became,  I  suppose,  a  kind  of  subconscious  abstract  prob- 
lem. At  any  rate  the  solution  appeared  one  day  —  and 
all  I  had  then  to  do  was  to  write  the  story.  So,  after  all, 
it  was  a  story  of  '  idea  '  worked  out  to  plot, —  but  a  visual 
impression  put  the  idea  into  my  head.  One  thing  only, 
I  believe,  I  knew  all  the  time, —  that  whatever  his  motive 
was,  he  was  as  much  in  the  dark  about  it  as  I.  That,  per- 
haps, was  what  attracted  me,  what  kept  my  curiosity  alive, 
and  what,  in  the  end,  made  it  an  acceptable  story." — 
Fleta  Campbell  Springer. 

PLOT.  Unsheathed  from  the  tissue  of  its  presenta- 
tion, the  essential  plot  of  this  character  story  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

Initial  Impulse:  Dr.  Jim  Corey,  of  Dubuque, 
Iowa,  happening  to  be  in  China  at  the  time  of  the 
Boxer  Rebellion  wins,  by  his  medical  skill,  the  Jap- 
anese Order  of  the  Rising  Sun,  and  the  French  rib- 
bon of  the  Legion  of  Honor. 

Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  Corey  re- 
turns to  his  home,  simple  and  unaffected.  After- 
ward, though  always  off  to  one  of  the  far  corners  of 
the  earth,  he  comes  back  with  the  same  indifference 
to  his  decorations.  Once  or  twice  only  he  displays 
them,  in  a  spirit  of  comic  masquerade  or  to  please  his 
friends.  In  1912  he  takes  part  in  the  Balkan  cam- 
paign, and  happens  to  meet  in  Paris,  where  he  goes 
for  anaesthetics,  the  narrator  of  the  present .  story. 
(Not  the  author,  it  will  be  noticed.)  On  his  return 
to  Dubuque  in  the  spring  of  1913  he  marries.  Essen- 
tially a  home  man  and  now  settled  down,  he  seem- 
ingly feels  no  inclination  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
World  War  to  get  to  France.  In  August,  1915,  how- 


186     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

ever,  he  goes  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  supposedly 
remains  for  two  months,  conducting  experiments. 
In  reality,  he  sails  for  France,  goes  to  the  front,  and 
in  six  weeks  wins  the  Croix  de  Guerre.  He  returns 
home,  as  if  from  Philadelphia. 

Dramatic  Climax:  After  some  weeks  his  wife 
finding  the  Croix  de  Guerre  and  learning  the  truth, 
accuses  him  of  being  unable  to  resist  a  new  decora- 
tion. Corey's  faith  in  himself  and  the  honesty  of  his 
past  is  destroyed. 

Steps  toward  Climax  of  Action:  Corey,  in  dis- 
tress, makes  a  confessor  of  his  relative,  Mr.  Ewing. 
He  seems  convinced  that  he  is  "  rotten  "  and  has  been, 
without  knowing  it.  Shortly,  he  leaves  again,  and 
it  is  given  out  that  he  has  gone  to  France  to  help  in 
the  war.  At  the  front  he  exposes  himself  to  every 
ganger;  meantime,  on  duty  and  off  he  wears  his 
array  of  decorations.  It  is  noteworthy  that  nobody 
sees  anything  "  funny  "  in  them,  however.  Volun- 
teering to  rescue  a  wounded  officer,  he  is  mortally 
injured,  and  the  two  are  brought  to  the  relief  station 
together. 

Climax  of  Action  Scene:  The  officer,  while 
Corey  is  unconscious,  tells  how  Corey  shielded  him 
at  the  expense  of  his  own  life.  He  manages  to 
despatch  a  note  to  General  Headquarters.  Corey 
regains  consciousness  and  calls  for  his  friend  Burke, 
to  whom  he  dictates  Mr.  Ewing's  name  and  address. 
Burke,  hearing  that  the  Medaille  Militaire  is  to  be 
conferred  upon  Corey,  tells  him.  Corey  hearing  that 
three  hours  will  be  required  remarks,  "  That's  time 
enough."  He  desires  Mr.  Ewing  to  know  that  *'  It 
breaks  a  man's  luck  to  know  what  he  wants,"  and 
that  he  did  not  take  the  hypodermic  which  would 
have  kept  him  alive  until  the  conferring  of  the 
Medaille  Militaire.  He  wishes  his  wife  to  hear  noth- 
ing about  the  honor  he  might  have  had  at  the  last. 

Denouement:    The  Division  General  arrives  too 


SOLITAIRE  187 

late  to  confer  the  medal.     Corey  had  saved  his  wife 
this  added  disgrace. 

PRESENTATION.  The  facts  of  the  plot,  extending  over 
a  long  time,  are  unified  through  the  device  of  the  nar- 
rator who,  first  becoming  curious  about  Corey  and  en- 
listing the  reader's  curiosity,  learns  theni  from  Mr.  Ew- 
ing.  Ewing,  then,  becomes  an  inner  narrator,  and  his 
story,  in  turn,  encloses  that  of  Burke.  The  skill  of  the 
author  is  manifest  in  the  process  by  which  she  has  so 
interwoven  the  various  pieces  of  information  about  Corey 
as  to  make  a  smooth  and  perfectly  joined  story.  The 
element  of  Chance  plays  a  strong  part,  but  so  natural  a 
role  that  it  meets  with  no  lack  of  credulity.  That  is, 
Chance  caused  the  first  meeting,  but  since  in  that  contre- 
temps lies  the  base  of  the  story,  it  is  accepted.  Chance 
also  causes  the  meeting  between  the  narrator  and  the  only 
man,  perhaps,  who  could  have  given  the  facts  about 
Corey's  career.  But  it  is  naturally  brought  about, 
through  the  setting  and  the  preliminaries  antecedent  to 
the  recognition  that  here  was  some  one  who  knew  Corey. 

Do  you  anywhere  feel  that  the  narrator  is  a  woman? 
Is  the  narrator's  delicacy  in  the  smoking  car,  for  example, 
greater  than  a  man  would  have  felt?  Would  a  man 
apologize  for  hearing  the  story. 

CHARACTER.  The  story  exemplifies  to  an  unusual  de- 
gree the  unity  which  results  from  emphasizing  one  char- 
acter. Every  other  is  ancillary  to  Corey.  Even  his  wife 
is  but  a  human  means  for  bringing  home  to  his  own  con- 
sciousness the  question  as  to  his  motives.  The  others 
exist  mainly  as  links  between  the  reader  and  Corey. 
The  interest  in  the  physician,  for  the  reader,  lies  in 
speculating  over  his  acts,  his  whereabouts,  and  the  op- 
posing forces  of  his  nature.  In  the  end,  it  is  seen  that 
he  has  been  all  along  a  single-hearted  American,  one  who 
followed  his  nature,  but  who,  when  his  attention  was 
drawn  to  the  sort  of  nature  it  appeared  to  be,  determined 
upon  a  course  of  punishment.  The  title  of  the  story 


i88     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

strengthens  this  interpretation.  The  summary  episode 
of  the  Western  miner  strengthens  it :  if  the  miner  cheated 
at  solitaire  he  shot  himself.  Corey  felt  that  he  had 
cheated  unaware  and  set  himself  to  the  task  of  flagel- 
lation. 

SETTING.  The  contrast  between  the  Middle  West  and 
France  emphasizes  the  apparent  contradictory  qualities  in 
Corey's  nature.  The  shift  in  settings  is  in  itself  con- 
ducive to  unity  and  short-story  effect  only  through  con- 
trast ;  but  the  rehearsed  method  of  telling  the  story,  with 
the  accent  on  Corey,  properly  subordinates  the  divergence 
in  locality  and  swings  it  into  harmony. 

Fleta  Campbell  Springer  thinks  a  short-story  is  what- 
ever the  author  makes  it.  "  That  is  why  I  believe  in  it, 
in  its  possibilities.  The  very  fact  that  you  can't  put  your 
finger  on  it,  can't  ticket  it,  or  define  it,  is  its  fascination. 
Its  limits  are  the  limits  of  the  author's  ability,  and  there 
are  several  kinds  of  authors  in  the  world.  The  word 
*  short-story '  is  sufficient  definition  in  itself,  length  be- 
ing the  only  quality  to  come  under  restriction." 


THE  YELLOW  CAT 

Mr.  Steele's  twelve  or  fifteen  years  of  studying  the 
technique  of  story  writing  have  resulted  in  his  master- 
ing the  power  of  suggestion,  found  at  its  height  in  Kip- 
ling, and  the  clear  vigorous  expression  for  which  Steven- 
son is  famous.  Without  a  statement  to  the  contrary 
from  the  author  himself  it  would  be  safe  to  assume  that 
they  were  his  models. 

"  The  Yellow  Cat "  is  told  in  the  first  person  by 
Ridgeway,  aided  by  McCord,  and  it  is  in  part  created 
by  the  reader.  One  who  likes  to  create  with  ease  will 
find  a  strain  upon  his  powers  of  construction ;  the  more 
he  takes  his  reading  as  a  narcotic,  the  less  he  will  enjoy 
it.  The  constructive  reader  will  delight  in  it. 

As  a  change  from  the  analysis  of  plot  in  the  presenta- 
tion, it  will  be  profitable  to  construct  the  events  in  chron- 
ological order. 

A.  The  master  of  the  Abbie  Rose  fears  his  Chinaman 
cook ;  he  enters  his  fear  in  his  log,  intimating  that  he 
may  do  away  with  the  Chinaman. 

B.  The  second  seaman,  Bach,  also  becomes  a  victim  of 
fear.     The  two  men  find  that  their  revolvers  are  stolen. 

C.  (Invented  by  every  reader  to  suit  himself.     Per- 
haps the  two  seamen  deserted  the  ship?) 

D.  The  Chinaman  is  left  on  board.     (Is  he  innocent?) 
He  climbs  into  the  shrouds,  when  he  sees  the  smoke  of 
an  approaching  vessel. 

E.  The  vessel  is  descried,  soon  after  C,  or  D,  by  the 
Mercury.     (.  .  ."the   stove   in   the  galley   still   slightly 
warm.")     It  is  seemingly  empty  but  for  a  yellow  cat. 

F.  McCord  and  Bjornsen   are   detailed  to   steer  the 

189 


190     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

Abbie  Rose  to  port,  over  a  hundred  miles  distant.  Mc- 
Cord  is  the  engineer. 

G.  Bjornsen,  going  to  shake  out  the  foretopsail  en- 
counters the  Chinaman. 

H.  (Invented  by  the  reader.  Bjornsen  was  probably 
knocked  into  the  sea,  and  may  have  made  his  escape  to  the 
land.  Was  he  killed  ?) 

I.  McCord  missing  Bjornsen,  and  becoming  obsessed 
by  the  yellow  cat,  begins  to  consider  the  theory  of  trans- 
migration of  souls. 

J.  (Suggested  to  the  reader:  McCord  thinking  the 
Chinaman  is  dead  —  for  he  has  read  the  log  entries  — 
suspects  that  his  soul  has  come  back  in  the  body  of  the 
cat.) 

K.  He  undergoes  a  period  of  mental  agony,  during 
which  time  he  brings  the  vessel  into  port.  He  sees  the 
shadow  of  the  Chinaman ;  he  shoots  at  the  shadow ;  he 
misses  the  water,  etc.  He  cannot  sleep  and  the  cat  has 
disappeared. 

(Note  that  all  the  incidents  above  are  of  the  time 
preceding  the  "  acting  time  "  of  the  story,  or  the  imme- 
diate situation  and  action.) 

L.  The  narrator,  Ridgeway,  here  comes  on  board  the 
vessel  lying  in  the  upper  river. 

M.  As  the  men  talk,  McCord  relating  his  experiences, 
the  cat  re-appears. 

N.  She  hears  a  sound,  rushes  amidships,  and  the  men 
follow. 

O.  They  look  aloft.     (See  page  255,  top.) 

P.  (Suggested:  McCord  sees  something  in  the  shroud.) 

Q.   (Suggested:     He  shakes  down  the  Chinaman.) 

R.  The  Chinaman  escapes,  leaving  his  slipper. 

S.  McCord  from  the  mast  brings  down  the  two  re- 
volvers and  other  things. 

T.  McCord  now  understands  the  whole  business;  he 
goes  to  sleep  at  once. 

Such  an  order  would  have  spoiled  the  story.  Notice 
in  the  presentation : 


THE  YELLOW  CAT  191 

1.  The  gathering  up  of  the  greater  part  of  the  inci- 
dents at  the  shortest  possible  distance  from  the  climax  of 
action. 

2.  The  economical  and  dramatic  method  by  which  the 
preceding  circumstances  are  set  forth.     The  reader  knows 
only  what  McCord  knows. 

3.  The  large  employment  of  suggestion. 

4.  The  keeping  of  the  place  —  the  boat  is  the  scene  of 
action  for  three  different  groups,  only  the  last  group  be- 
ing the  immediate  actors. 

5.  The  excellent  clues  to  the  shrouds  as  the  hiding 
place.     (See  pages  237,  .  .  ."top-sails  being  pursed  up 
.  .  .  but  not  stowed  "  ;  238,  .  .  ."  handing  down  like  huge, 
over-ripe  pears,"  etc.) 

6.  The  logic  of  McCord's  not  rinding  the  hiding  place 
of  the  cook.     (First  sentence,   page  255.)     This  illus- 
trates Poe's  theory  as  set  forth  in  "  The  Purloined  Let- 
ter." 

7.  The  use  of  suspense.     The  reader  wonders  whether 
the  explanation  will  lie  in  the  supernatural  or  the  natural. 
Suspense  is  satisfied  only  in  the  denouement,  after  which 
the  end  comes  quickly. 

8.  The   motivation    for   the   whole   story.     It   lies    in 
fear:  "  the   one  universal  and   uncontrollable   passion." 
And  it  is  heightened  by  placing  in  opposition  representa- 
tives of   two   races,  neither  of   which  understands  the 
other.     Here,  then,  is  the  real  struggle. 


DOWN  ON  THEIR  KNEES 

CLASSIFICATION.  This  is,  primarily,  a  love  story,  hav- 
ing a  strongly  marked  struggle  between  the  first  and  sec- 
ond characters,  and  a  complicating  thread  of  interest 
drawn  from  the  relations  between  the  first  and  third 
characters.  It  is  of  the  familiar  "  triangle  "  type,  but 
of  a  unique  individuality. 

The  struggle  appears  to  be  motivated  by  something  like 
hate;  but  the  denouement  reveals  that  the  acts  resulting 
from  apparent  hatred  or  contempt  were  only  negative  or 
distorted  expressions  of  the  real  or  positive  passion. 

PRESENTATION.  The  narrator  is  the  author  (third  per- 
son), who  focuses  the  spot-light  on  Angel. 

PLOT.  Analyze  the  plot,  marking  out  the  main  steps. 
What  is  the  turning  point  in  the  struggle,  or  the  dramatic 
climax  ? 

Compare  the  manipulation  of  the  plot  elements  with  the 
management  of  those  in  "  The  Yellow  Cat  "  plot.  Which 
is  simpler? 

SETTING.  Among  the  Portuguese  on  Urkey  Island. 
The  time  is  the  present. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  The  racial  type  chosen  is  one, 
through  which  passionate  and  contradictory  expression 
might  well  flow.  A  colder-tempered,  more  logical  peo- 
ple, would  here  be  impossible.  Or  if  individuals  of  the 
milder  tempered  race  were  chosen,  the  task  of  making 
them  convincing  (as  a  group)  would  be  an  added  diffi- 
culty. 

What  impression  of  Peter  Um  Perna  do  you  receive  at 
first?  By  what  method  or  methods  of  portrayal  is  this 
impression  conveyed? 

Where  is  the  second  Peter,  his  second  self,  first  re- 

192 


DOWN  ON  THEIR  KNEES  193 

vealed?  Where  in  full?  What  is  the  significance  of  the 
relationship  of  the  one  who  explains  him? 

What  is  the  chief  trait  of  Angel?  How  is  your  opin- 
ion of  her  maintained  or  changed?  At  what  point,  and 
why,  does  she  leave  off  caring  for  Man'el? 

What  marked  characteristics  of  Peter  and  Man'el  are 
contrasted?  (See  e.g.,  page  329:  "Yeh!"  He  had 
planned  to  lie  about  that.") 

What  is  the  value  of  the  older  characters  —  the  Avo 
and  Mena? 

Why  are  the  life-savers  numbered  I,  2,  5  and  so  on? 

DETAILS.  Is  there  anywhere  a  clue  to  Angel's  love  for 
Peter?  To  his  for  her? 

Wherein  lies  the  element  of  suspense  ?  Where  is  your 
curiosity  first  satisfied?  What  becomes  a  new  cause  for 
reading  on?  How  is  suspense  increased  near  the  final 
outcome  ? 

Why  at  first  reading  are  you  not  sure  of  the  place  at 
which  Angel  no  longer  loves  Man'el?  What  purpose  of 
the  author  leads  him  to  leave  the  reader  doubtful? 

What  vividness  is  given  to  the  description  of  the  set- 
ting, in  the  first  paragraph? 

What  plot  convenience  exists  in  the  Avo  being  Peter's 
laundress  ? 

How  is  the  name  Philomena  used?  In  what  other 
story  of  these  collections  do  you  find  it  similarly  wow- 
descriptive  ? 

Why  is  the  title  "  Down  on  Their  Knees  "? 

What  indications  in  this  story,  in  the  way  of  color 
and  form,  do  you  find  of  Mr.  Steele's  being  also  an  artist 
of  the  brush? 

What  plot  purpose  does  Man'el  perform  in  his  dare 
to  Peter,  to  "  go  fishin' "  ?  Does  he  serve  to  get  the 
situation  over  the  impasse?  Is  it  a  too  obvious  trick? 

The  struggle  in  the  last  lap  of  the  action  is  one  against 
the  elements.  What  are  the  two  subdivisions  of  this 
struggle?  Is  the  outcome  satisfactory?  What  symbolic 
value  has  the  final  sentence  ? 


CHING,  CHING,  CHINAMAN 

PRESENTATION.  The  story  is  told  in  reminiscent  vein 
by  one  who  uses  his  own  angle  as  a  boy.  It  recalls  the 
manner  of  "  Treasure  Island/'  as  "  The  Yellow  Cat " 
recalls  Kipling.  The  boy's  angle  is  faithfully  kept,  with 
excellent  results.  The  first  value  of  the  boy's  angle  is 
that  much  of  the  action  was  unclear  to  him,  as  it 
progressed  chronologically,  and  this  obscurity  is  carried 
over  to  the  reader.  The  reader,  then,  is  kept  in  sus- 
pense, as  the  boy  was,  until  the  outcome.  It  is  a  well- 
known  and  capital  means  of  creating  and  heightening 
suspense.  The  second  value  is  that  the  boy's  point  of 
view  is  the  best  for  unity  of  effect.  Observe  that  this  is 
true  in  studying  the 
PLOT. 

Initial  Incident:  Maiden  marries  Sympathy 
Gibbs,  whom  Mate  Snow  has  been  considering  for 
himself.  This  incident  motivates  the  chain  of  events 
that  follow. 

(The  following  is  revealed  out  of  chronological 
order,  as  the  plot  is  presented.  But  as  effect  result- 
ing from  cause  it  follows,  in  the  plot  construction, 
the  initial  incident)  : 

First  Steps  toward  Dramatic  Climax:  Mate 
Snow  writes  in  the  name  of  Gibbs,  to  Minister 
Maiden,  saying  he  is  alive.  "  Gibbs "  demands 
money  as  a  reward  for  his  silence  and  non-appear- 
ance. Maiden,  unable  to  bear  the  thought  of  his 
child  being  a  bastard,  meets  the  demand.  Pie  fur- 
ther agrees  to  stay  away  from  his  wife  and  child. 
(Do  you  think  the  motivation  is  strong  enough,  un- 
der the  given  conditions,  to  make  the  Minister  do 
194 


CHING,  CHING,  CHINAMAN  195 

this?)     Sam  Kow,  a  Chinaman  sees  the  exchange 
of  letter  and  money. 

Next  Steps:  (These  are  revealed  at  first  read- 
ing, but  cause  wonder  and  suspense,  as  the  preceding 
steps  are  unknown  to  the  boy  and  to  the  reader)  : 

Maiden  leaves  Sympathy  and  his  baby  and  lives 
with  Mate  Snow,  occupying  two  rooms  over  the 
drug  store. 

The  village  wonders  but  Mate  Snow  seemingly 
takes  the  part  of  Maiden.  Nobody,  of  course,  sus- 
pects his  villainy. 

The  Minister  tries  to  "convert"  Yen  Sin,  the 
Chinaman,  and  motivation  for  this  struggle  goes 
back  to  the  antecedent  period  (first  paragraphs) 
when  the  minister  had  voyaged  to  heathen  shores 
to  work  in  "the  field."  (Notice  the  reason  given 
for  his  return,  and  observe  that  the  earthly  and 
divine  loves  were  even  then  at  odds  in  his  make-up.) 

Step  in  Chronological  Order  (but  held  back  until 
the  outcome)  :  Yen  Sin  receives  collars  from  Sam 
Kow  on  which  Sam  informs  him  of  the  exchange 
of  letters  and  money.  This  correspondence  keeps 
up  for  seven  years. 

Further  Steps:  Yen  Sin  keeps  his  own  reserve 
and  his  own  religion. 

One  evening  Minister  Maiden  fails  to  show  up  at 
prayer-meeting.  Mate  Snow  presides.  The  boy 
creeps  off  to  the  pillar-house,  where  Sympathy  lives. 
He  sees 

i.  That  Minister  Maiden  enters.  2.  That  Yen 
Sin  also  sees.  The  boy  makes  a  visit  of  a  month. 
He  returns  to  find  Mate  Snow  the  big  man  of  the 
village.  Yen  Sin  has  grown  older  and  feebler. 

Dramatic  Climax:  Yen  Sin  is  dying:  he  asks  for 
the  Minister.  (It  is  from  the  Chinaman's  death  that 
the  change  of  Maiden's  fortunes  arises.) 

Steps  following  immediately,  and  leading  directly 
to  climax  of  action. —  The  boy  enters  the  church  to 


196     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

see  Snow  in  the  pulpit ;  he  stammers  out  the  China- 
man's need  for  the  Minister.  Snow  answers  the 
call.  The  boy  hates  Snow ;  he  continues  to  look  for 
Maiden.  He  goes  to  the  pillar  house.  He  looks 
beneath  a  drawn  shade  and  sees  Maiden  receiving 
five  hundred  dollars  from  Sympathy ;  he  hears  her 
says,  "  It  brings  us  to  the  end,  Will."  He  hears  the 
Minister  thanking  God  it's  Mate  Snow  who  holds 
the  mortgage.  But  Sympathy  declares  that  Mate 
has  "  sucked  the  life "  out  of  Maiden.  The  boy 
screams  out  that  the  Chinaman  is  dying.  Then  he 
rushes  oft"  to  the  scow  of  Yen  Sin.  Now  follows  the 
struggle  of  wills,  and  of  races;  Chinaman  is  pitted 
against  American,  in  the 

Impulse  of  Final  Suspense:  The  boy  hears  Snow 
enjoining  the  Chinaman  to  confess.  Yen  Sin  calls 
for  his  collars,  and  as  they  lie  curling  about  him,  he 
mildly  asks  for  Snow's  confession.  Snow  finally 
confesses,  "  I  have  coveted  my  neighbor's  wife." 
Here  Maiden  enters.  He  reveals  that  Gibbs  is  alive, 
and  to  save  his  child,  he  has  paid  hush-money.  (See 
above.)  He  has  promised  to  stay  away  from  wife 
and  child,  but  has  gone  to  them  in  secret.  This  is 
his  confession.  Then  Yen  Sin  reveals  what  Sam 
Kow  has  written  from  Infield  —  on  the  collars  — 
Maiden  has  paid  money.  .  .  .  Here  Snow  goes  mad, 
fearing  exposure,  and  blurts  out  enough  to  show  it 
is  he  who  has  demanded  the  money.  Yen  Sin  points 
out  that  at  any  time  "  Mista  God"  would  have  ac- 
cepted confession,  "  makee  allee  light."  Minister 
Maiden  begins  to  comprehend. 

Climax  of  Action:  Snow  drinks  poison;  he  dies. 
The  villagers  rush  him  off  to  the  doctor's.  The  boy 
and  Maiden  are  alone  with  Yen  Sin.  Maiden  runs 
to  fetch  his  wife  and  child.  Yen  Sin  sends  the  boy 
for  the  minister.  Yen  Sin's  departure,  "  China 
way,"  and  Maiden's  prayer  for  his  soul. 

Study  the  interval  of   time  between  every  two 


CHING,  CHING,  CHINAMAN  197 

stages  of  the  action.  Observe  the  quickening  of 
tempo  near  the  close,  added  to  a  cumulative  weighti- 
ness  of  effect. 

THEME.  The  story  is  thought-provoking  in  its  bigness 
of  theme  which  every  reader  will  express  for  himself. 
Many  will  see  no  further  than  the  concrete  events. 
Others  may  be  tempted,  perhaps,  to  read  more  into  the 
story  than  the  author  consciously  included.  But  it  seems 
to  be  clear  that  the  end  of  the  struggle  is  in  the  yellow 
man's  favor.  The  closing  sentence  emphasizes  the  irony 
of  mission  work. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Is  the  boy's  angle  uniform  in 
regard  to  his  apprehension  and  comprehension  at  the  age 
of  thirteen  ?  Does  he  occasionally  seem  older  ?  younger  ? 

What  attributes  of  the  Minister  invite  your  sympa- 
thy ?  How  are  his  qualities  given  —  through  the  boy, 
or  through  his  report  of  acts  and  speeches? 

At  what  point  do  you  begin  to  watch  for  trickery 
on  Mate  Snow's  part?  What  is  his  dominant  trait? 

What  trait  of  the  Chinaman  is  exploited?  Is  it  racial 
or  individual? 

SETTING.  Point  out  links  that  connect  the  locale  of 
this  story  with  that  of  "  Down  on  their  Knees."  Notice 
that  the  chief  scene-settings  are:  the  Chinaman's  scow, 
the  church,  the  home  of  Sympathy  Gibbs.  Why  is  the 
drug-store  residence  of  Minister  Maiden  not  used?  Why 
not  the  transactions  at  Infield?  Give  two  reasons,  one 
with  regard  to  unity,  the  other  with  regard  to  handling 
of  plot. 

Is  there  reason  that  the  action  might  have  strayed  over 
too  much  time  and  place  for  the  purpose  of  the  short- 
story?  Could  a  novelette  be  constructed  out  of  the  ma- 
terial included? 

DETAILS.  By  what  early  preparation  does  the  death 
of  Snow  from  poison  become  so  logical  as  scarce  to 
challenge  question?  (See  page  442.) 

"Tubbed  box  trees,"   "the   big  green   door,"   "lilac 


198     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

panes,"  "  silhouetted  against  the  open  door,"  "  a  steam- 
blurred  silhouette,"  "  shadows  of  the  uneasy  flock  moved 
across  the  windows," —  these  illustrate  what  ability  of 
the  author?  Point  out  other  examples. 

Page  447 — "If  —  if  one  had  faith!"  To  what 
denouement  is  this  a  clue? 

Page  448  — "  He's  gone  out  in  the  back-country  to 
pray  alone."  Clue  to  what?  Do  you  think  it  credible 
that  Mate  Snow  never  suspected  where  Maiden  went  on 
these  occasions?  If  he  knew,  what  motive  kept  him 
silent?  Where  did  Mate  Snow  suppose  the  Minister  got 
the  hush-money? 

Page  449 — "The  door  was  still  open,  a  blank,  bright 
rectangle  giving  into  the  deserted  vestry,  and  it  was 
against  this  mat  of  light  that  I  spied  Minister  Maiden's 
head,"  etc.  What  processes  work  to  make  this  a  memor- 
able bit  of  description.  Point  out  similar  examples  in 
this  story  and  in  the  other  stories  of  Mr.  Steele.  Point 
out  examples  in  stories  by  other  authors. 

Study  Mr,  Steele's  use  of  shadows,  here  and  in  "  The 
Yellow  Cat."  Compare  them  with  Mr.  Dobie's  shadows 
in  "  Laughter."  The  value  of  shadows  lies  in  their  sug- 
gestion. They  call  up  the  real  thing  in  fiction  more  easily 
and  economically  than  the  thing  itself,  as  described,  can 
do.  The  reason  is  obvious.  If  there  is  a  shadow,  the 
reader  knows,  unconsciously,  there  must  be  something 
to  cast  it.  Hence,  curiosity  may  be  aroused ;  in  any 
event,  "  belief  "  is  secured  in  the  reality  of  the  object. 

"  Approaching  ...  I  put  one  large,  round  eye  to  the 
aperture."  (Page  455.)  Did  the  boy  think  of  himself 
as  having  a  "  large  round  eye  "  ?  Or  does  the  narrator 
think  of  himself  (now  a  man  of  years)  as  he  looked? 
Is  it  sound  technique,  either  way  regarded,  or  would  it 
be  better  to  leave  out  the  "  large,  round  "  ? 

Is  it  more  fascinating  to  read  of  something  viewed 
in  part  and  surreptitiously  than  it  is  to  read  of  the  same 


CHING,  CHING,  CHINAMAN  199 

scene  viewed  as  a  whole  and  freely  under  usual  condi- 
tions? What  primitive  impulses  are  appealed  to? 

Page  457,  in  the  paragraph  beginning,  "  I  shall  never 
forget  the  picture,"  occurs  preparation  for  the  "  China 
way  "  departure.  What  is  it  ?  In  the  same  paragraph 
what  excellent  bit  of  description  occurs? 

What  do  you  think  of  the  idea  "—the  emotion  of 
humor,  which  is  another  name  for  perception  "?  (Page 

458.) 

Page  459,  m  tne  paragraph  beginning,  "  Yes,"  he  mur- 
mured, is  an  excellent  example  of  irony.  How  does  it 
aid  the  action  ? 

Do  you  believe  that  in  the  struggle  of  wills  Mate  Snow 
would  have  given  in  to  the  urge  of  the  Chinaman?  What 
circumstances  argue  for  the  result?  WThat  is  against  it? 

Page  465.  Do  not  fail  to  take  the  full  meaning  of 
the  paragraph  to  heart :  "  He  lay  so  still  over  there  on 
the  couch."  In  what  lines  is  the  thought  most  poignant? 

Page  467.  Why  is  the  expression  "  Urkey's  unwashed 
collars  "  used  with  fine  effect  ? 

What  satisfaction  do  you  find  in  the  closing  tableau? 


THE  DARK  HOUR 

"  The  Dark  Hour  "  has,  in  the  story  sense,  no  plot. 
The  only  action  lies  in  a  fragmentary  discussion  between 
the  sick  man,  Hallett,  and  his  physician  who  paces  the 
deck  of  the  homeward  bound  vessel.  The  only  hint  of  a 
struggle  lies  in  the  conflicting  viewpoints  of  the  two  men. 

Hallett  holds  that  Germany  has  a  vision  — **  a  red, 
bloody,  damned  vision  " —  but  a  vision.  The  Allies  have, 
as  yet,  no  vision. 

The  doctor  argues  that  the  Allies  want  to  win  the  war. 

Hallett  replies  that  this  desire  is  nightmare. — "  The 
only  thing  to  beat  a  vision  black  as  midnight  is  a  vision 
white  as  the  noonday  sun."  He  eventually  gives  the  pos- 
sible vision, —  symbolized  earlier  by  his  words,  "  There's 
a  bright  star,  doctor," —  in  the  thin-worn  word,  "  Democ- 
racy." He  declares  that  such  an  impossible  Utopia  must 
come  —  or  "  Hamburg  to  Bagdad."  As  the  doctor  de- 
clares that  this  wild  empre  of  the  spirit  is  impossible  and 
Hallett  agrees,  cryptically,  that  it  is  impossible,  the  watch 
cries  "  All's  well."  Hallett  then  says  we  may  do  the 
impossible,  after  all ;  in  all  the  world  is  nothing  but  the 
sound  of  the  barricades  of  revolution.  He  sees  the  star, 
as  he  has  seen  it  in  the  beginning  of  the  dialogue. 

The  argument  thus  becomes  an  optimistic  prophecy  of 
the  final  vision  of  the  Allies.  At  Thanksgiving,  1918,  the 
impossible  seems  about  to  be  realized:  Hallett  was  es- 
sentially right,  in  his  point  of  view. 

The  sick  man,  one  who  probably  dying  is  assumedly 
close  to  the  spirit-world,  is  well-balanced  by  the  material 
physician,  representing  the  earth-spirit. 

Besides  suggesting  a  nexus  between  America  and  the 
righting  Allies,  the  homeward  bound  vessel  affords  from 

200 


THE  DARK  HOUR  201 

its  deck,  quite  naturally,  the  view  of  the  star,  which  be- 
comes symbolically  useful ;  and,  further,  the  cry  of  the 
watch,  "  All's  well,"  which  also  conveys  a  deeper  mean- 
ing. 

The  story  should  be  read  as  the  counterpart  of  Virgil 
Jordan's  "  Vengeance  is  Mine."     (See  page  119.) 


THE  BIRD  OF  SERBIA 

STARTING  POINT.  In  "  The  Bird  of  Serbia,"  Mr. 
Street  desired  to  say  through  the  medium  of  fiction  a 
certain  thing.  "  Perhaps  I  wanted  to  say :  '  Nothing 
is  so  small  or  so  nasty  that  it  can  not  be  made  to  serve  an 
autocratic  ruler  in  carrying  out  his  designs.'  So,  then,  I 
took  as  my  symbol  for  smallness  and  nastiness,  the  louse. 
And  then  I  set  out  to  prove  that  lice  could  serve  the  auto- 
crat who  wished  to  start  a  war.  I  wanted  to  show  how 
very  true  that  theory  is,  and  I  should  say  that  the  quality 
of  truth  in  that  story  —  the  convincingness  of  it  —  is  the 
best  thing  about  it." — Julian  Street. 
PLOT. 

Initial  Impulses,  giving  rise  to  the  struggle  and  the 
complication. — 

Gavrilo  Prinzip,  a  subject  of  Austro-Hungary,  liv- 
ing in  Sarajevo,  Bosnia,  is  a  Serb  by  descent  and 
nature.  The  revolutionary  spirit  he  displays  at  an 
early  age  gives  evidence  of  his  passionate  racial  feel- 
ing. In  1913,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  is  betrothed 
to  Mara.  The  two  are  devoted  to  each  other,  but 
Mara  resents  Gavrilo's  constant  ideal  of  a  free  Serb 
race.  She  is,  perhaps,  "jealous  of  a  people." 

Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  Sarajevo 
plans  to  have  on  June  28,  Kossovo  Day,  a  celebra- 
tion greater  than  usual  because  of  Serbian  inde- 
pendence gained  in  the  two  preceding  years  of  the 
Balkan  War.  A  few  days  before,  Mara's  relative, 
a  former  supposed  rival  of  Gavrilo,  gives  her  a 
black  song  bird  —  a  kos.  Gavrilo  begs  her  to  re- 
lease the  bird.  She  feels  that  she  will  be  giving  up 
202 


THE  BIRD  OF  SERBIA  203 

her  own  character  to  free  it,  and  persists  in  keeping 
it  caged.  She  is  confirmed  in  her  stubbornness 
through  the  advice  of  her  relative.  The  Serbian 
festival  is  forbidden ;  attempts  to  commemorate  the 
anniversary  will  result  in  arrest.  Austrian  manoeu- 
vres will  take  place,  instead.  The  Archduke  will  ap- 
pear, in  spite  of  advice  to  the  contrary.  It  is  clear 
that  a  plot  is  brewing.  Gavrilo  has  promised,  how- 
ever, not  to  participate  in  anything  violent  so  long 
as  Mara  loves  him.  She  assures  him  of  her  love, 
whereupon  he  asks  her  again,  to  set  the  kos  free. 

Minor  Climax:  She  refuses.  The  kos  has  be- 
come a  symbol  for  both-  Mara  in  releasing  it 
would  surrender  her  will  power;  Gavrilo  releasing 
it  would  see  an  emblem  of  freedom  for  all  Serbs. 

Gavrilo  engages  in  the  plot,  but  remembering  his 
promise  he  refuses  to  "  participate  in  certain  mat- 
ters." He  and  Mara  are  happy  so  long  as  the  bird 
is  not  mentioned.  When  he  puts  leaves  into  the 
cage,  however,  Mara  begs  him  not  to  do  so;  she 
fears  they  are  poisonous,  as  the  bird  is  growing 
weaker.  Gavrilo  insists  that  captivity  is  killing  it. 

Dramatic  Climax:  On  the  evening  of  June  27, 
the  bird  dies.  "  It  was  not  a  dead  bird  that  I  saw, 
but  a  climax  in  a  parable." 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:  Gavrilo  and 
Mara,  filled  with  emotion,  dispute  over  the  cause  of 
death.  Mara  insists  that  the  bird  man  must  de- 
termine the  cause,  and  affects  to  believe  that  Gavrilo 
has  poisoned  it.  He  runs  from  the  garden,  frantic. 
The  bird  man  comes;  he  points  out  the  lice.  Mara 
sends  for  Gavrilo.  He  cannot  be  found.  The  Arch- 
duke, his  wife,  and  their  suite  arrive. 

Climax  of  Action:  On  the  morning  of  June  28, 
Gavrilo  shoots  the  Archduke  and  the  Archduchess 
as  they  ride  through  the  streets  of  Sarajevo. 

Denouement:  Gavrilo  dies,  four  years  later,  in 
prison. 


204     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

The  struggle,  then,  is  one  of  wills  —  Gavrilo's  against 
Mara's.  The  two  lines  of  interest  forming  the  complica- 
tion are  1st,  the  love  story  of  Gavrilo  and  Mara ;  2nd,  the 
relations  between  Serbians  and  Austria.  This  complica- 
tion begins  with  the  initial  impulse  of  the  story  and  finds 
its  solution  only  with  the  climax  of  action. 

Examples  of  good  craftsmanship  in  details  are  1st, 
making  Gavrilo  a  good  shot,  and  at  the  same  time  in- 
troducing the  bird  motif;  2nd,  strengthening  Mara's  will 
and  antagonizing  Gavrilo  by  the  cousin,  who  is  introduced 
with  the  first  mention  of  Gavrilo's  love  affair.  Point  out 
other  instances  of  plot  finish. 

PRESENTATION.  The  story,  as  told  by  a  man  in  a 
smoking-car,  is  immediately  and  logically  motivated  by 
the  newspaper  account  of  Gavrilo  Prinzip's  death.  The 
denouement,  therefore,  is  presented  first,  though  it  ap- 
pears from  the  conclusion  that  the  narrator's  fellow- 
travelers  do  not  recognize  this  fact  until  the  series  of 
events  comes  full  circle. 

In  connection  with  the  plot,  notice  how  the  narrator  is 
bound  up  with  it.  What  advantages  do  you  find  in  the 
author's  presenting  the  story  in  the  rehearsed,  rather 
than  in  the  dramatic  way  ?  4t  In  order  to  show  what  I 
was  driving  at,"  says  Mr.  Street,  "  it  was  necessary  for 
me  to  use  the  form  of  the  inner,  related  story  —  a  form 
which  is  always  awkward,  but  which  sometimes  succeeds 
in  spite  of  its  awkwardness,  for  the  reason  that  the 
reader  becomes  so  absorbed  in  the  inner  story  that  he 
forgets  that  an  individual  is  supposed  to  be  speaking, 
and  that,  too  often,  that  individual  is  talking  like  a  book, 
rather  than  a  human  being,  let  alone  an  easy  raconteur. 

"  My  story,  '  The  Bird  of  Serbia,'  is  not  without  this 
fault.  The  man  who  sits  in  the  smoking-room  of  a 
Pullman  car  and  relates  the  inner  tale,  would  not,  in 
actual  life,  have  spoken  altogether  as  I  made  him  speak. 
To  that  extent,  then,  the  story  is  imperfect ;  but  this  im- 
perfection is  not  likely  to  be  noticed  by  the  average  reader, 
because  it  is  not  sufficiently  glaring  to  remind  him  that 


THE  BIRD  OF  SERBIA  205 

the  man  in  the  smoking-room  is  supposed  to  be  talking  all 
the  while." 

CHARACTERIZATION.  What  traits  in  the  chief  actors 
are  most  conspicuous?  Are  they  "  played  up"  convinc- 
ingly and  economically?  What  value  have  the  back- 
ground characters  —  the  mother  of  Gavrilo,  for  example  ? 
What  points  of  the  Austrian  character  are  noted,  because 
of  which  sympathy  is  diverted  from  the  Archduke? 

Is  the  narrator  of  Gavrilo's  story,  the  man  in  the  smok- 
ing car,  a  minor  character  or  a  disinterested  chronicler  of 
the  events  he  followed  so  minutely  and  accurately? 

SETTING.  Notice  that  Mr.  Street  restrains  his  nar- 
rator from  stating  the  name  of  the  place,  Sarajevo,  until 
near  the  conclusion.  Does  its  reserve  increase  the  final 
effect?  What  details  indicate  the  author's  familiarity 
with  local  conditions,  customs,  dress,  and  language?  To 
what  end  do  these  local  color  data  contribute? 

DETAILS.  What  clue  do  you  find  in  the  narrator's 
statement  about  the  "  microscopic  unclean  forces  of 
which  historians  will  never  know  "  ? 

Do  you  regard  the  ending  as  one  of  "  surprise  "  ?  If 
so,  is  it  calculated  as  such,  or  rather  a  chance  offshoot  of 
what  was  intended,  rather,  as  a  strong  closing  sentence? 

On  the  subject  of  story  writing  in  general,  Mr.  Street 
makes  a  valuable  observation : 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  a  tendency,  in  discussing 
the  art  of  short  story  writing,  to  confuse  manner  and 
matter,  and  to  conclude  that  the  story  with  a  big,  sombre 
theme  must  necessarily  be  superior,  as  a  work  of  art,  to 
the  story  which  is  lighter  in  subject  and  treatment. 
When  I  say  '  light '  I  do  not  mean  frivolous  or  false. 
De  Maupassant,  Leonard  Merrick,  and  O.  Henry  have 
taught  us  better  than  that.  A  story  can  have  the  quality 
of  truth,  and  can  be  rich  in  character  and  observation, 
yet  be  done  with  splendid  deftness  of  touch  —  and  often- 
times this  very  deftness,  which  we  so  seldom  see  in  a 
story,  is  regarded  too  lightly  by  critics.  It  is  much  as 
though  we  were  to  insist  that  the  wood-chopper  has 


206     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

greater  skill  than  the  tight-rope  walker,  valuing  the  heavy 
strokes  of  the  one  more  highly  than  the  poise  and  adept- 
ness  of  the  other.  A  light  touch  in  a  story  often  sug- 
gests that  it  has  been  produced  with  ease;  and  a  light 
step  on  the  tight-rope  suggests  the  same  thing ;  but  when 
we  see  a  man  swinging  a  heavy  axe  at  a  huge  tree  trunk, 
breathing  hard  and  sweating,  we  readily  perceive  that  he 
is  doing  real  work.  Hard  work.  I  do  not  dispute  that 
there  may  be  certain  lumber- jacks  who  handle  the  two- 
edged  axe  with  a  practiced  skill  rivaling  or,  perhaps,  even 
surpassing  the  skill  of  a  fair  tight-rope  walker;  but 
neither  do  I  hold  with  those  who  see  art  only  where  there 
is  sweat  and  smell  and  swearing." 


THE  BOUNTY  JUMPER 

OPENING  SITUATION.  James  Thorold,  of  Chicago,  has 
just  been  appointed  ambassador  to  Forsland.  Isador 
Framberg  has  fallen  at  Vera  Cruz.  Thorold  is  making 
his  way  to  the  station  to  meet  his  son,  Peter,  who  comes 
on  the  same  train  that  brings  the  body  of  Framberg. 

The  initial  incident,  then,  of  the  complete  story  is  the 
meeting  of  father  and  son. 

Brief  steps  in  action. —  The  two  pay  their  respects  to 
Framberg's   remains,   at  City   Hall.     This   becomes  the 
motivation  for  the  story  Thorold  tells  his  son  and  for  his 
giving  up  the  appointment.     (See  final  paragraph.) 
PLOT  OF  INNER  STORY. 

Initial  Incidents:  Thorold  had  taken  "  bounty 
money,"  which  was  offered  to  any  one  who  joined 
the  Nineteenth  Regiment  at  a  specified  time. 

Dramatic  Climax:  "  I  slipped  past  the  lines."  .  .  . 
"  I  was  a  bounty-jumper." 

Climax  of  Action:  Thorold's  promise  to  God  and 
to  Lincoln  that  he  would  atone  for  the  faith  he  had 
broken. 

Denouement  (of  enveloping  action  as  aided  by 
inner  narrative)  : 

Thorold  relinquishes  the  Forsland  Embassy. 
This  act,  joined  to  the  confession,  forms  the  expia- 
tion. In  one  sense,  the  whole  rehearsed  story  may 
be  said  to  constitute  the  denouement  of  Thorold's 
life-long  struggle. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Thorold  is  the  chief  figure,  em- 
phasized from  beginning  to  end  by  the  author's  comment, 

207 


208     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

by  his  own  recollections,  by  his  son's  remarks  to  him,  and 
by  his  own  confession.  The  struggle  is  Thorold's. 
What  aspects  has  it? 

The  second  figure  is  Framberg  —  dead.  He  is  the 
cause  of  the  immediate  phase  of  the  long  struggle,  the 
climactic  phase.  He  is  the  contrasting  element,  the 
heroic  young  man,  even  an  alien  by  birth,  who  was  never- 
theless a  better  American  than  Thorold.  ( Notice  the  in- 
formation given,  page  262,  about  his  foreign  birth.) 
Through  whom  does  the  reader  get  most  of  the  informa- 
tion about  Isador? 

The  third  figure  is  Peter,  a  foil  of  another  sort  for 
his  father.  He  is  the  judge.  "  Our  children  are  always 
our  ultimate  judges" — page  268.  Is  Peter,  at  any 
point,  inconsistent  with  your  concept  of  a  sixteen  year 
old  boy?  How  do  you  account  for  the  fact,  with  re- 
spect to  authorship  and  artistic  purpose  of  the  author? 
Are  his  personality  and  influence,  joined  to  that  of  Fram- 
berg's,  strong  enough  for  the  motivating  force?  That 
is,  would  Thorold  have  told  his  story?  Would  he  have 
given  up  the  ambassadorship? 

SETTING,  ETC.  The  narrator  brings  together  in  an 
apparently  easy  yet  powerful  way  in  a  tempo  suited  to 
the  happenings  in  real  life  the  forces  of  half  a  century. 
(Compare  with  this  management  that  in  "  The  Waiting 
Years.")  The  action  occurs  within  a  single  morning. 
Chicago  is  kept  before  the  reader  by  numerous  references. 
The  magnitude  of  the  narrative  is  increased  by  the  spirit 
of  Lincoln ;  the  poignancy  of  sentiment  by  the  lilac  frag- 
rance, the  picture  of  the  hearse,  the  reminiscence  of  the 
dead  Lincoln. 

PRESENTATION.  How  consistently  does  the  author 
keep  to  the  mind  of  Thorold  in  exercising  her  power  of 
omniscience?  When  she  shifts  to  the  boy's  mind,  do 
you  feel  a  break  in  the  unity  ?  What  alleviating  circum- 
stances help  to  preserve  the  unity  ? 

ATMOSPHERE.  The  tone  is  restrained,  sad  from  the  in- 
ner failure  of  the  man  who  has  known  worldly  success ; 


THE  BOUNTY  JUMPER  209 

yet  it  is  hopeful  in  the  spiritual  outcome  of  the  struggle 
and  in  the  promise  of  the  young  boy  Peter.  Is  it  char- 
acter or  setting  which,  in  this  story,  contributes  most  to 
atmosphere  ? 


NONE  SO  BLIND 

CLASSIFICATION.  A  story  of  situation,  suggesting 
numerous  small  struggles.  (See  below.)  It  is  a  re- 
markable example  of  the  multum  in  parvo  management 
required  of  the  short-story.  The  action  requires  a  brief 
part  of  one  day. 

PLOT.  The  impulse  of  the  action  lies  in  the  telephone 
message  announcing  Bessie  Lowe's  death. 

The  dramatic  climax  is  in  Dick's  perjury:  his  declara- 
tion that  Bessie  Lowe  was  the  girl  he  had  cared  for. 

The  climax  of  action  lies  in  the  narrator's  discovery 
that  Standish  —  not  Dick  —  had  been  Bessie's  lover. 

The  denouement  is  the  narrator's  "  poisoned  arrow  " 
flash  of  light  that  Dick  had  loved  Leila  and  had  sacrificed 
•his  own  fiancee  to  the  hurt  to  save  Leila's  feelings. 
With  the  recognition  dawns  the  realization  that  she  and 
Dick  must  go  their  ways. 

Struggle  moments  suggested  are:  I.  In  the  heart  of 
Standish.  Shall  he  confess  to  his  wife  ?  2.  In  the  heart 
of  Dick.  Shall  he  sacrifice  his  fiancee  to  save  Leila's 
feelings?  3.  On  Leila's  part  Shall  she  indicate  that 
she  knows  Dick  is  lying  ?  4.  On  the  part  of  the  narrator. 
What  shall  she  do  about  it?  In  each  case,  the  outcome 
arrives  with  celerity,  and  love  is  the  ruling  motive  in  each 
struggle.  The  decision,  as  affected  by  love,  testifies  to 
the  character  of  each  person. 

CHARACTERIZATION.  Is  each  character  so  described, 
and  does  he  show  such  action  and  interaction  as  to  make 
logical  the  behavior  in  the  particular  struggle?  Must 
the  reader  accept  any  one  of  the  decisions  on  faith  alone? 

SETTING.  What  is  it?  Has  it  particular  contributory 
value,  or  might  the  locale  have  been,  say,  New  York? 

210 


NONE  SO  BLIND  211 

How  is  it  integrated  with  atmosphere  and  action  ?  (  See, 
e.g.,  page  468,  "  Through  the  purpling  twilight  of  that 
St.  John's  eve.") 

DETAILS.  How  might  the  narrator  have  hoodwinked 
herself  as  to  Dick's  motive?  How  might  Dick  have  ex- 
plained so  as  either  I.  to  satisfy  the  narrator,  or  2.  to 
leave  her  —  and  the  reader  —  in  doubt?  Which  of  the 
three  choices  would  have  been  cheapest  and  easiest? 
Which  would  have  destroyed,  altogether,  the  individual- 
ity of  the  story? 

Study  the  sound  effects,  beginning  in  the  very  first 
paragraph.  Is  there  a  suggestion  of  disturbed  harmonies, 
in  a  spiritual  sense  ?  Notice  that  the  sounds  suggest  the 
entire  London  background  against  which  the  individual 
tragedy  stands  out,  etched  in  a  few  lines. 

What  value  have  the  poetic  passages  which  Miss  Synon 
is  fond  of  introducing  into  her  stories?  Do  they  seem 
to  be  external,  or  have  they  been  made  an  essentially 
vital  part  of  the  whole? 

What  does  lavender,  at  the  close,  signify? 

Wherein  lies  the  deepest  pathos  of  the  story?  How  is 
it  conveyed  —  by  notice  or  neglect  or  by  a  happy  re- 
straint ? 


HALF-PAST  TEN 

CLASSIFICATION.  As  a  short-story  of  situation,  this 
narrative  achieves  that  concentration  found  in  Barrie's 
"  Half  Hour  "  Plays.  It  may  be  studied  as  all  the  pre- 
ceding examples  have  been  studied,  but  attention  is  called 
to 

SKILL  IN  PRESENTATION. 

1.  In  the  suspense,   (a)  the  reader  senses  a  tragedy, 
but  has  not  all  the  details  until  the  end  of  the  first  seven 
or  eight  hundred  words,  (b)  the  reader  waits  the  news 
of  Jim's  death. 

2.  In  the  new  rise  of  interest  after  Al's  announcement, 
"All  over." 

3.  In  depicting  the  characters  almost  wholly  through 
acts  and  speeches. 

4.  In  satisfying  the  reader.     Jim  died  for  a  crime  com- 
mitted by  another,  but  he  seems  to  have  deserved  death 
on  general  principles.     Again,  the  surviving  family  have 
the  poor  knowledge  and  consolation  that  he  was  imme- 
diately innocent. 

5.  In  the  objective  method  (already  suggested  under 
3)  which  conveys  directly  the  grim  tragedy  and  sordid 
realism. 

A  slip  in  the  method  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  mind 
of  the  child  is  invaded  once  or  twice.  It  would  seem  that 
at  the  beginning  the  author  meant  to  present  the  whole 
tragedy  from  the  point  of  view  of  Rhoda,  who  would 
not  comprehend  it  all,  of  course,  and  would  therefore 
serve  a  purpose  similar  to  that  of  the  thirteen  year  old 
boy  in  "  Ching,  Ching,  Chinaman."  But  either  the  task 
proved  too  difficult,  or  the  author  changed  her  purpose, 

212 


HALF-PAST  TEN  213 

without  the  revision  which  would  have  given  perfection 
to  the  method.  (See,  e.g.,  page  349,  "  Rhoda  took  stock 
of  them.  .  .  ."  This  illustrates  her  "angle"  or  the 
author's  exercise  of  omniscience  over  her  baby  mentality.) 


AT  ISHAM'S 

Setting  and  idea  overbalance  plot  and  characterization 
in  this  story,  which  hardly  concerns  itself  with  narrative 
form.  True,  it  supports  —  rather  than  is  supported  by 
—  an  embryonic  plot ;  and,  true,  the  plot  is  marked  by 
a  struggle  element  in  the  guise  of  antagonism  between  two 
men.  But  the  author  is  interested  in  his  question  and 
in  the  debate. 

The  starting  point  of  the  argument  is  this  query,  pro- 
pounded by  Norvel,  at  Isham's  restaurant:  "If  Mars 
is  inhabited  by  a  race  so  similar  to  ourselves,  what  means 
of  communication  between  us  is  there  so  unmistakably 
of  human  origin  that  a  sight  of  it  or  a  sound  from  it 
would  unmistakably  convince  them  of  our  relationship  ?  " 

As  suggestion  after  suggestion  is  dismissed,  it  seems  to 
be  clear  that  nature  can  imitate  everything.  Then  Savelle 
declares  that  man  can  only  imitate  nature.  Philbin  re- 
torts :  "  That's  contrary  to  every  teaching  of  Christ  you 
ever  raved  about."  Philbin  goes  away.  Savelle  con- 
tinues to  maintain  that  all  that  is  human  is  imitation. 

Then  comes  the  great  war.  Philbin  returns  to  Isham's 
after  five  years,  in  the  second  of  the  world  conflict.  De- 
pressed, old,  and  distrait,  he  announces  that  he  has  lost 
his  son.  He  produces  the  bronze  cross,  bestowed  upon 
his  son  for  saving  the  lives  of  two  fishmongers.  Young 
Philbin  was  going  back  for  the  third  when  he  was  killed. 

Norvel  asks  what  part  of  nature  Mr.  Philbin  was  then 
imitating. 

Savelle  affirms,  Ci  It  is  the  divine  phenomenon  of 
Calvary."  But  Philbin  replies,  "  When  my  son  was  alive, 
he  was  a  man.  I  believe  he,  too,  died  like  a  man.  I 
prefer  that  to  an  imitation  of  anything  —  even  God." 

214 


AT  ISHAM'S  215 

There  is,  then,  no  outcome;  for  the  conclusion  but 
emphasizes,  further,  the  two  separate  views.  A  larger 
truth  is  conveyed,  however,  which  as  if  incidentally 
usurps  the  end  to  which  the  story  seems  headed.  It  is 
this :  Sacrifice  of  life  for  a  weaker  brother  is  either  God- 
like or  manlike.  With  this  dawning  thesis  in  mind,  the 
reader  recognizes  that  Mr.  Venable  has  answered  em- 
phatically the  question  set  up  in  such  stories  as  "  Greater 
Love  — "  and  "  The  Knight's  Move."  (See  page  75.) 

Are  the  views  of  Philbin  and  Savelle,  in  the  end,  the 
same  each  held  at  the  beginning? 


DE  VILMARTE'S  LUCK 

PLOT. 

Circumstances  Antecedent  to  the  Main  Action: 
Hazelton,  who  cannot  sell  his  '*  blond  "  canvasses, 
paints  *'  La  Guigne  Noire,"  a  study  in  dark.  He  is 
immediately  approved  by  the  public.  After  three 
years  he  has  ceased  exposing  pictures  of  his  earlier 
and  better  manner. 

Initial  Incident:  While  he  is  engaged  on  "  Le  Mai 
du  Ventre,"  he  meets  Raoul  de  Vilmarte,  an  inferior 
artist  but  gentleman  of  means.  The  latter  admires 
the  former  work,  and  insists  that  Hazelton  should 
claim  his  position  as  the  apostle  of  light.  Hazelton 
suggests  that  another  signature  might  bring  recog- 
nition. De  Vilmarte  lightly  offers  his  name. 

Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  He  signs  a 
Hazelton  picture,  which  is  immediately  accepted  and 
acclaimed.  The  two  artists  decide  to  keep  the  secret, 
as  the  best  way  out  of  what  has  become  an  awkward 
situation.  Hazelton  decides  to  go  on  with  his 
"  darker  "  method.  Some  months  later  the  two  men 
make  another  bargain  —  De  Vilmarte  buys  a  paint- 
ing of  Hazelton.  The  traffic  continues,  whenever 
De  Vilmarte  needs  a  picture  or  Hazelton  needs 
money.  (Notice  the  motivation  for  the  needs.) 
Hazelton,  having  transferred  his  affection  to  his 
second  manner,  feels  a  mad  sense  of  rivalry.  On 
the  occasion  of  the  next  exhibition  De  Vilmarte 
wins  the  second  medal.  Hazelton  has  only  one 
picture  on  the  line.  Raoul  is  sorry;  Hazelton  says 
the  thing  must  stop.  But  now  De  Vilmarte's  mother 
urges  a  private  exhibition.  Hazelton  bargains 
216 


DE  VILMARTE'S  LUCK  217 

once  more,  but  with  the  statement  that  one  of 
the  four  must  die  —  he,  his  wife,  De  Vilmarte,  or 
De  Vilmarte's  mother. — "  There  is  death  in  our  little 
drama."  De  Vilmarte  falls  in  love;  his  agony  in- 
creases. Hazelton  paints  an  unusually  fine  picture. 
Raoul  signs  it  but  declares  that  it  is  the  end ;  he  has 
defiled  himself  too  long. 

Dramatic  Climax:  The  supposed  artist  receives 
the  Legion  of  Honor.  Mme.  de  Vilmarte  comments 
on  the  resemblance  between  her  son's  "  work  "  and 
Hazelton's,  "  as  though  you  were  two  halves  of  a 
whole,  a  day  and  night."  Hazelton  gives  up  his 
thought  of  exposing  De  Vilmarte. 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:  The  strug- 
gle continues;  Hazelton,  at  intervals,  threatens  De 
Vilmarte ;  the  latter  plans  to  kill  Hazelton,  then  him- 
self. But  he  decides  to  wait  until  his  mother  dies. 
Affairs  have  reached  this  state  when  war  breaks 
out,  and  France  claims  both  artists.  Hazelton  writes 
to  Raoul  that  he  must  not  fear  for  his  mother,  if  he 
comes  to  harm.  Both  are  engaged  for  some  time  in 
fighting. 

Climax  of  Action:  Wounded,  they  meet  in  a 
hospital.  Hazelton  learns  that  De  Vilmarte's  right 
hand  is  injured ;  he  dies  in  an  ironic  burst  of  laughter 
that  Raoul's  luck  holds  to  the  end. 

The  details  of  plot  are  presented  chronologically, 
from  the  omniscient  author's  point  of  view.  Do 
you  see  any  value  in  the  author's  exercising  omnis- 
cience over  the  mind  of  first  one  character  then  the 
other?  Would  the  story  gain  if  she  had  invaded 
only  Raoul's  mind?  Hazelton's? 

CHARACTERS.  In  Hazelton,  the  dominant  character, 
Mrs.  Vorse  presents  an  interesting  study  of  dual  per- 
sonality. She  gains  the  reader's  sympathy  for  him 
chiefly  by  showing  that  his  better  nature,  as  revealed  in 
his  "  first  manner,"  lacked  appreciation  from  the  artistic 


218     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

world.  He  was,  in  a  measure,  forced  to  rely  upon  his 
"  second "  or  "  darker "  manner.  In  this  respect  the 
narrative  offers  a  novel  divergence  from  other  stories  of 
the  type.  At  the  same  time,  the  contrasting  features  in 
the  man's  physical  appearance,  in  his  craftsmanship,  and 
in  his  behavior  toward  De  Vilmarte  testify  to  the  in- 
dubitable presence  of  light  and  shade  in  his  intrinsic 
make-up. 

De  Vilmarte  is  only  a  foil,  but  sufficiently  vitalized  to 
share,  proportionately,  the  reader's  interest. 

SETTING.  Nowhere  except  in  France  could  the  de- 
velopment of  events  be  so  easily  compassed.  From  the 
salon  of  the  beginning  to  the  hospital  at  the  close,  the 
setting  is  an  integral  part  of  the  story. 


THE  WHITE  BATTALION 

STARTING  POINT.  "  It  was  in  those  intolerable  days  of 
1917  when  Russia  had  fallen  away  and  America  seemed 
perilously  unready;  when  German  intrigue  helped  by 
treachery  behind  the  allied  lines  in  France,  England  and 
Italy  was  winning  the  war  for  Germany;  intolerable  to 
those  of  soldier  blood  whose  years  put  them  beyond  the 
dead  line  of  enlistment  requirements  and  who  could  do 
nothing  more  than  work  and  earn  and  give  over  here. 

I  was  haunted  interminably  by  the  suffering  of  the 
women  of  France  whose  men  had  died  on  the  field  of 
honor  —  wasted  suffering  if,  in  the  end,  the  German  won. 
I  knew  the  women  would  fight  against  any  —  is  there  a 
stronger  adjective  of  horror  now  than  Germanic  odds? 
How  could  these  widowed  women,  or  even  the  dead  bear 
it  —  and  in  a  flash  "  The  White  Battalion  "  came. 

Always  the  supernatural  stories  "  flash  "  in  this  way, 
apparently  in  answer  to  a  long  sub-conscious  demand  for 
justice  beyond  human  power  to  compass.  Other  stories 
build  more  or  less  painfully,  save  for  the  big  scene." — 
Frances  Gilchrist  Wood. 
PLOT. 

Initial  Impulse:  Widows  of  certain  heroic 
Frenchmen,  petitioning  to  be  entered  and  drilled  as 
the  — nth  Battalion  of  Avengers,  are  accepted  and 
trained. 

Steps  toward  the  Dramatic  Climax:  Each  woman 
adds  a  packet  of  potassium  cyanide  to  her  equip- 
ment. They  request,  further,  to  be  assigned  to  the 
position  which  will  be  in  the  course  of  advance  to 
retake  the  ground  held  to  the  death  by  their  men. 
Major  Fouquet  commands  them.  Order  comes  for 
219 


220     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

the  attack,  and  they  go  over  the  top,  eagerly,  grip- 
ping their  bayonets  as  they  follow  the  barrage  across 
No  Man's  Land.  When  the  barrage  lifts  the  women 
see  "  thrust  shield-wise  above  the  heads  of  the  Huns 
—  frightened  and  sobbing  —  hundreds  of  little  chil- 
dren!" (This  is  a  minor  climax.)  The  women 
recognize  they  must  either  betray  a  trust  or  cut 
through  the  barricade  of  children.  After  an  in- 
stant only  the  woman  captain  makes  the  sign  of 
the  cross  and  stumbles  forward  —  on  her  wrist 
bound  the  packet  of  death!  They  will  charge,  her 
followers  understand,  but  the  poison  will  erase  the 
hideous  memory  forever.  The  captain  falls.  .  .  . 

Dramatic  Climax:  As  the  women  grip  to  thrust, 
there  sweeps  down  a  battalion  of  marching  shadows 
in  a  blur  of  gold  and  blue  that  outstrips  the  advance 
of  the  Avengers.  There  is  a  flash  of  charging  steel 
and  the  waving  colors  of  the  old  — nth  as  they  sweep 
over  the  untouched  children  into  the  trench. 

Steps  toward  the  Climax  of  Action:  The  bravest 
man  in  the  old  — nth  bends  over  the  fallen  captain; 
there  is  a  smile  of  recognition,  then  the  woman's 
figure  springs  to  his  side  and  sweeps  forward  with 
the  Battalion. 

Climax  of  Action:  The  old  soldiers  of  the  — nth, 
led  by  "  a  shining  one,"  save  their  women  from  the 
"  last  hellish  trap  set  by  fiends  " !  The  Avengers  and 
the  White  Battalion  retake  the  ground  for  which  the 
— nth  gave  their  lives. 

Denouement:  Fouquet  and  Barres,  having  seen 
the  field  from  different  angles,  report  the  episode. 

PRESENTATION.  The  rehearsal  of  this  dramatic  oc- 
currence, so  shortly  after  the  event,  scarcely  detracts  from 
its  stirring  qualities.  So  striking  are  they,  in  fact,  that 
presented  directly  they  would  probably  suffer  from  over- 
emphasis and  consequent  lack  of  conviction.  Moreover, 
reality  is  conveyed  through 


THE  WHITE  BATTALION  221 

1.  The  curiosity  of  the  foreign  officers  over  losing 
contact  with  the  French  forces ; 

2.  The  colloquial  way  in  which  the  history  of  the 
— nth  Battalion  is  given ; 

3.  The  establishing  of  truth  through  the  mouths  of 
two  witnesses; 

4.  The  emphasis  on  the  forty  secofids,  which  under 
the  conditions  of  presentation  gains  significance; 

5.  The  assurance  that  the  children  have  been  sent 
to  the  rear  to  be  cared  for. 
CHARACTERIZATION.     The  individual  characters  of  the 

main  incident  are  lost  in  the  group  —  save  for  the  bright 
passage  about  the  dead  woman  captain.  Avenging  their 
dead,  righting  a  wrong,  holding  sacred  a  trust,  keeping 
faith  with  the  Fatherland,  dying  in  performance  of  duty 
—  of  all  these  the  avenging  women  were  nobly  capable. 
The  struggle,  in  its  relation  to  woman  nature,  is  one  of 
the  most  psychologically  true  found  in  fiction.  It  was 
all  over  in  forty  seconds;  yet  the  so-called  instinct  of 
woman  —  in  reality  her  ability  to  judge  and  decide 
quickly  —  terminated  the  struggle  between  tenderness  and 
trust,  with  ample  time  left  over.  Faith  would  be  kept, 
even  at  the  expense  of  their  mortal  bodies  and  of  their 
immortal  souls. —  The  characteristic  of  the  White  Bat- 
talion is  the  spirit  of  protection.  The  characteristics  of 
Fouquet  and  Barres  are  simplicity,  honesty  and  an  al- 
most homely  every-day-heroic  quality,  all  of  which  work 
to  the  conviction  of  the  reader.  Because  of  the  family 
relations,  the  fundamental  notions  of  honor,  and  ele- 
mental ideals  exhibited,  this  stoiy  is  destined  to  last 
Founded  on  bed-rock  principles  of  life  itself,  it  towers 
into  the  realm  of  spirit. 

"  The  short-story  is,  of  course,  the  recountal  of  some 
struggle  or  complication  so  artistically  told  as  to  leave 
upon  the  reader  one  dominant  impression.  Perhaps  the 
'  artistic '  is  redundant,  for  can  a  story  leave  such  an 
impression  unless  it  be  artistically  told?  Even  geniuses 


222     HOW  TO  STUDY  BEST  SHORT  STORIES 

must  master  their  vehicle  of  expression  or  remain  dumb. 
To  win  the  sought  for  reaction  to  a  short-story,  painting, 
play  or  oratorio,  one  learns  either  in  the  hard,  blind  school 
of  '  rejection  slips  '  or  by  the  intelligent  method  of  skilled 
critic  and  master,  but  learn  one  must. 

"  The  high  water  mark  in  story  writing  is  reached  most 
often  for  me  by  the  dramatic  story,  objectively  told.  It 
is  the  genius  who  selects  just  the  right,  again  the  artistic, 
material  which  limns  the  personality  of  the  character  and 
reveals  it  to  us  through  that  unconscious  tell-tale,  the 
character  himself;  whose  story-people  talk  in  just  the 
tone  that  makes  even  the  impossible  carry  conviction ;  and 
who  last,  or  perhaps  first,  has  a  story  to  tell  and  an  un- 
hackneyed way  of  telling  it. 

"  Suggestion  and  restraint  in  a  story  appeal  to  me 
most  strongly.  .  .  .  And  when  in  'the  joy  of  working' 
one  masters  the  writer's  art,  genius  as  well  as  mere  talent, 
the  reaction  will  come ;  the  audience  will  laugh  or  cry  — - 
or  both,  if  the  gods  are  kind." —  Frances  Gilchrist  W_ood. 


r 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  OEPT. 

This  booK  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


6    No'57RG 

21  M*1*11 

REC'D  U3 

UG]  231957. 

REC'D  LD 

AUG    71963 

...  •'* 

. 

REC'D  LD 

APR  2  9  1953 

^cflUr'SQf^ 

25War 
REC'D  LC 

MAR  27  196(3 

LD2] 
(B9311slO)476 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


YB  74018 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


I 


